Inventiones : fiction and referentiality in twelfth-century English historical writing / Monika Otter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Otter, Monika, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geoffrey, of Monmouth, Bishop of St. Asaph, 1100?-1154. Historia regum Britanniae.

Geoffrey.

William, of Malmesbury, approximately 1090-1143. De antiquitate Glastoniensis ecclesie.

William.

William, of Newburgh, 1136-1201? Historia rerum Anglicarum.

Giraldus, Cambrensis, 1146?-1223? Itinerarium Cambriae.

Giraldus.

Map, Walter, active 1200. De nugis curialium.

Map, Walter.

Historiography--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Historiography.

Invention (Rhetoric)--History--To 1500.

Invention (Rhetoric).

Reference (Philosophy).

Rhetoric, Medieval.

Fiction--Technique.

Fiction.

Great Britain--History--To 1485--Historiography.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 230 p. )

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill ; London : University of North Carolina Press, [1996]

Summary:

Combining literary theory and historiography, Monika Otter explores the relationship between history and fiction in the Latin literature of twelfth-century England. The beginnings of fiction have commonly been associated with vernacular romance, but Otter demonstrates that writers of Latin historical narratives also employed the self-referential techniques characteristic of fiction. Beginning with inventiones, a genre dealing with the discovery of saints' relics, Otter reveals how exploring the fundamental problems of writing history and the nature of truth itself leads monastic or clerical Latin writers to a budding awareness of fictionality. According to Otter, accounts of conquests, treasure hunts, descents into underground worlds, and efforts (usually unsuccessful) to retrieve subterranean objects serve as self-referential metaphors for the problems of accessing and retrieving the past; they are thus designed to shake the reader's faith in historical representation and highlight the textuality of the historical account. Otter traces this self-conscious use of fictional elements within historical narrative through the works of William of Malmesbury, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gerald of Wales, Walter Map, and William of Newburgh. Originally published in 1996. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

Contents:

1. Inventiones

2. Gaainable Tere: Foundations, Conquests, and Symbolic Appropriations of Space and Time

3. Underground Treasures: The "Other Worlds" of William of Malmesbury, William of Newburgh, and Walter Map

4. Quicksands: Gerald of Wales on Reading.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-221) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9798890866585

9780807863725

0807863726

OCLC:

1065140941