Ordering chaos : the self and the cosmos in twelfth-century Latin prosimetrum / by Bridget K. Balint.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Balint, Bridget K.

Series:

Medieval and Renaissance authors and texts ; v. 3.

Medieval and Renaissance authors and texts, 0925-7683 ; v. 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Prose poems, Latin (Medieval and modern)--History and criticism.

Prose poems, Latin (Medieval and modern).

Literature, Medieval--History and criticism.

Literature, Medieval.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (252 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

From c. 1100 until c. 1170, Latin prosimetrical texts characterized by dialogue, allegory, and philosophical speculation enjoyed a notable popularity within the cultural ambit of the French cathedral schools. Inspired by Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy , the prosimetrum writers applied his literary techniques to the ethical and anthropological concerns of their own era, producing texts of great artistry in the process. This book investigates the rise of the Boethian impulse in Latin, the innovations of the twelfth-century writers, the difficulties that arose when they attempted to recapture the certainty that characterized the Consolation , and the survival of aspects of this literary mode in later Latin and vernacular literature.

Contents:

The writing of prosimetrum in the Middle Ages

The authority of the consolation

The interlocutors

Situating the self

Truth and instability in the prosimetra

Fabulous philosophizing after 1170

Prose and poetry in the prosimetra

Hildebert of Lavardin, The complaint and quarrel of the body and the soul

Lawrence of Durham, Consolation on the death of a friend.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [225]-235) and index.

ISBN:

1-283-06136-8

90-474-4447-7

9786613061362

90-04-17411-7

OCLC:

706239078

Publisher Number:

10.1163/ej.9789004174115.i-242 DOI