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Late-Medieval Prison Writing and the Politics of Autobiography
Author(s): Joanna Summers (Author)
- Publisher: OUP Oxford
- Publication Date: 1 July 2004
- Language: English
- Print length: 240 pages
- ISBN-10: 0199271291
- ISBN-13: 9780199271290
Book Description
Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy has long been taken as one of the seminal works of the Middle Ages, yet despite the study of many aspects of the Consolation's influence, the legacy of the figure of the writer in prison has not been explored. A group of late-medieval authors, Thomas Usk, James I of Scotland, Charles d'Orléans, George Ashby, William Thorpe, Richard Wyche, and Sir Thomas Malory, demonstrate the ways in which the imprisoned writer is presented, both within and outside the Boethian tradition. The presentation of an imprisoned autobiographical identity in each of these authors' texts, and the political motives behind such self-presentation are examined in this study, which also questions whether the texts should be considered to from a genre of early autobiographical prison literature.
Editorial Reviews
Review
...crosses the boundaries of genre to bring us an intelligent account of pre-modern self-fashioning. ― Isabel Davis, TLS
A service to the study of the late-medieval period ―
Isabel Davis, TLSBook Description
The first ever book to examine medieval prison writing
