Medieval and early modern literature was fascinated with the material remains of the past. Scenes involving the discovery, description, circulation, or contemplation of archaeological objects can be found in texts ranging from hagiography to elegiac poetry, from historiography to romance—across regions and periods. This volume gathers voices to explore the ways in which these texts employ descriptions of objects from the past to produce aesthetic and literary responses to questions of historicity and the epistemological conditions of historical knowledge. The contributions to 'Material Remains: Reading the Past in Medieval and Early Modern British Literature' examine the understanding and experience of temporality as registered through the representation of found objects. From 'Beowulf' and King Arthur to Richard III, Roger de Norton, and more, these essays reproduce the thrill of the archaeological find and generate new forms of historical understanding beyond the established narratives that reinforce modern forms of periodizing the Middle Ages.
Author(s): Jan-Peer Hartmann, Andrew James Johnston (eds.)
Series: Interventions: New Studies in Medieval Culture
Publisher: The Ohio State University Press
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 306
City: Columbus
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
INTRODUCTION. Reading the Past through Archaeological Objects / ANDREW JAMES JOHNSTON AND JAN-PEER HARTMANN 1
PART I. TRACES
CHAPTER 1. Found Bodies: The Living, the Dead, and the Undead in the Broad Medieval Present / SARAH SALIH 21
CHAPTER 2. The Beaker in the Barrow, the Flagon with the Dragon: Accessorizing 'Beowulf' / ROBERTA FRANK 38
CHAPTER 3. Evidence of the Past in the Legend of the Seven Sleepers / NEIL CARTLIDGE 57
CHAPTER 4. The Return of the King: Exhuming King Arthur and Richard III / PHILIP SCHWYZER 78
PART II. ENTANGLEMENTS
CHAPTER 5. Global 'Beowulf' and the Poetics of Entanglement / ANDREW JAMES JOHNSTON 103
CHAPTER 6. Weapons of Healing: Materiality and Oral Poetics in Old English Remedies and Medicinal Charms / LORI ANN GARNER 120
CHAPTER 7. Saracens at St. Albans: The Heart-Case of Roger de Norton / NAOMI HOWELL 145
CHAPTER 8. The Ruthwell Cross and the Riddle of Time / JAN-PEER HARTMANN 172
PART III. SPECTACLE AND PERFORMANCE
CHAPTER 9. Archaeo-Theatrics / JONATHAN GIL HARRIS 193
CHAPTER 10. 11 Ways of Looking at Renaissance Ruins / ANDREW HUI 210
CHAPTER 11. 'But men seyn', 'What may ever laste?': Chaucer’s House of Fame as a Medieval Museum / JOHN HINES 240
Bibliography 259
List of Contributors 283
Index 285
