The Song of Troilus : Lyric Authority in the Medieval Book Hardback
by Thomas C. Stillinger
Part of the The Middle Ages Series series
Hardback
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The Song of Troilus traces the origins of modern authorship in the formal experimentation of medieval writers.
Thomas C. Stillinger analyzes a sequence of narrative books that are in some way constructed around lyric poems: Dante's Vita Nuova, Bocaccio's Filostrato, and Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.
The shared aim of these texts, he argues, is to imagine and achieve an unprecedented auctoritas: a "lyric authority" that combines the expressive subjectivity of courtly love poetry with the impersonal authority of Biblical commentary.
Each of the three establishes its own formal and intertextual dynamics; in complex and unexpected ways, the hierarchies of Latin learning are charged with erotic force, allowing the creation of a new vernacular Book of Love. The Song of Troilus is a linked series of incisive close readings.
Each chapter defines and investigates a range of philological, intertextual, and theoretical problems; in addition to explicating his three principal texts, Stillinger offers important insights into a range of medieval traditions, from Psalm commentary to Trojan historiography to Ricardian political satire.
At the same time, The Song of Troilus is a sophisticated narrative of cultural change and a searching meditation on history, desire, and writing. The Song of Troilus is an original and highly readable study of three major medieval texts; it will be of compelling interest to students and scholars of medieval literature, and to all those exploring the history of authorship and the implications of literary form.
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Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:304 pages, 2 illus.
- Publisher:University of Pennsylvania Press
- Publication Date:29/11/1992
- Category:
- ISBN:9780812231441
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Information
-
Available to Order - This title is available to order, with delivery expected within 2 weeks
- Format:Hardback
- Pages:304 pages, 2 illus.
- Publisher:University of Pennsylvania Press
- Publication Date:29/11/1992
- Category:
- ISBN:9780812231441