Prophet Margins

While poets have traditionally inhabited cultural margins, prophets have brought poetic language to the center of cultural debate, not foretelling the future so much as diagnosing the present. This exciting collection of nine essays examines the range of social and political implications that inflects poetic discourse, from the Old English and Latin texts of the Anglo-Saxon world to the Scotland and England of the Renaissance. Whether saints' lives, Germanic heroic epics, chronicles, or satiric poems, the works discussed in this book retain their verbal power, if not their political influence, into our own time.

Autorentext

The Editors: E. L. Risden is Associate Professor of English at St. Norbert College, Wisconsin; Karen Moranski is Associate Professor of English at the University of Illinois-Springfield; and Stephen Yandell is Assistant Professor of English at Xavier University, Ohio.

Zusammenfassung
"Nine scholars expertly analyze how many prophetic poems from the early Middle Ages to the Renaissance look backward to history and myth and forward through political crises to stabilize or subvert the status quo. The breadth of coverage demonstrates the book's thesis that medieval prophecy was a powerful political tool in many and varied times of socio-political upheaval." (Sister Mary Clemente Davlin, O.P., Professor of English, Dominican University)
"This book is an important scholarly contribution to an area of study that has often been neglected. The Old English, Medieval, and Renaissance prophets exerted a tremendous influence on their times - in religion, in society, and in politics - and we need to examine their influence more thoroughly. The authors of these essays have researched carefully and advance our knowledge significantly." (Bruce Hozeski, Professor of English, Ball State University)
"This excellent volume goes beyond previous treatments to explore the incorporation of prophetic discourse in a variety of literary genres, revealing how deeply it informs even works that we do not normally think of as 'prophetic'." (Peter Goodrich, Professor of English, Northern Michigan University)

Inhalt
Contents: Edward L. Risden/Stephen Yandell/Karen R. Moranski: Introduction: Prophecy as Political Discourse Edward L. Risden: Old English Heroic Poet-Prophets and Their (Un)stable Histories William P. Hyland: Prophecy and Community Leadership in Rudolph of Fulda's Vita Leobae Heinz Baader: Wolfram's Culturally Prophetic Parzival Mickey Sweeney: Gawain's Tempting Helen: Prophesying the Fall of Camelot Stephen Yandell: Prophetic Authority in Adam of Usk's Chronicle William F. Hodapp: Performing Prophecy: The Advents of Christ in Medieval Latin Drama Russell Rutter: Printing, Prophecy, and the Foundation of the Tudor Dynasty: Caxton's Morte Darthur and Henry Tudor's Road to Bosworth Theodore L. Steinberg: Poetry and Prophecy: a Skelton Key Karen R. Moranski: The Son Who Rules «all Bretaine to the sey»: The Whole Prophesie and the Union of Crowns.