Writing old age and impairments in late Medieval England / by Will Rogers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rogers, Will (Medievalist), author.

Series:

Borderlines (Leeds, England)

Borderlines

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--Middle English, 1100-1500--History and criticism.

English literature.

Old age in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (149 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Leeds : Arc Humanities Press, 2021.

Summary:

The old speaker in Middle English literature often claims to be impaired because of age. This admission is often followed by narratives that directly contradict it, as speakers, such as the Reeve in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales or Amans in Gower's Confessio Amantis, proceed to perform even as they claim debility. More than the modesty topos, this contradiction exists, the book argues, as prosthesis: old age brings with it debility, but discussing age-related impairments augments the old, impaired body, while simultaneously undercutting and emphasizing bodily impairments. This language of prosthesis becomes a metaphor for the works these speakers use to fashion narrative, which exist as incomplete yet powerful sources.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Staves and Stanzas

Chapter 1. Crooked as a Staff: Narrative, History, and the Disabled Body in Parlement of Thre Ages

Chapter 2. A Reckoning with Age: Prosthetic Violence and the Reeve

Chapter 3. The Past is Prologue: Following the Trace of Master Hoccleve

Chapter 4. Playing Prosthesis and Revising the Past: Gower's Supplemental Role

Epilogue: Impotence and Textual Healing

Works Cited

Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 11 Jun 2021).

ISBN:

9781641892544

1641892544

OCLC:

1246809504