| Medieval Reading: Grammar, Rhetoric and the Classical Text Contributor(s): Reynolds, Suzanne (Author) |
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ISBN: 0521472571 ISBN-13: 9780521472579 Publisher: Cambridge University Press OUR PRICE: $114.00 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: August 1996 Annotation: This book argues for a radically new approach to the history of reading and literacy in the Middle Ages. It investigates the use of complex literary texts as the basis of elementary instruction in the Latin language and, using medieval teachers' notes (glosses) on a classical text (Horace's Satires) and a selection of other unpublished manuscript materials, it demonstrates that the reading of classical literature was profoundly shaped by the demands of acquiring Latin literacy through the arts of grammar and rhetoric. The resolutely literal readings of Latin texts found in these educational and institutional contexts call for a reassessment of the relationship of Latin and vernacular discourses in medieval culture, and of some central notions in medieval hermeneutics, notably allegory and authorial intention. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Foreign Language Study | Latin - Literary Criticism | Medieval - Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh |
| Dewey: 478.007 |
| LCCN: 95033499 |
| Series: Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature |
| Physical Information: 0.76" H x 6.31" W x 9.3" (1.06 lbs) 256 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book investigates how people learned to read in the Middle Ages. It uses glosses--medieval teachers' notes--on classical Latin texts to show how these complex works were used in a very basic and literal way in the classroom, and argues that this has profound implications for our understanding of medieval literacy and hermeneutics. Suzanne Reynolds discusses issues including the relationship of Latin and vernacular languages, the role of classical texts in medieval culture, ideas of allegory in the Middle Ages, and medieval literary theory. |