Cultures of Reading in Anglo-Saxon England
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Special Session
Organizer Name
Samantha Zacher, Mark C. Amodio
Organizer Affiliation
Cornell Univ., Vassar College
Presider Name
Mark C. Amodio
Paper Title 1
Reading the Ealde Lease Spell: Caring for the Self in the Old English Boethius
Presenter 1 Name
Hilary E. Fox
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Wayne State Univ.
Paper Title 2
Enacting the Word: Performance and Private Reading in Vercelli Homily IV
Presenter 2 Name
Kaylin Myers
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Cornell Univ.
Paper Title 3
Who Read Charters in Anglo-Saxon England?
Presenter 3 Name
Francesca Tinti
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. del País Vasco/Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science
Start Date
11-5-2014 8:30 AM
Session Location
Fetzer 2020
Description
The aim of this session is to generate a lively dialogue about the variety of reading technologies available in early England, with a view to uncovering forms of continuity and difference across the medieval period. Such comparative work has not been especially forthcoming to date. To cite just a few examples, it is clear that despite the many studies produced in the last decade on the topics of reading for leisure (Glending Olson), on mnemonic and meditative reading (Mary Carruthers), and performative reading (Sarah McNamer) with regard to English writing in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, there has been little reciprocal treatment of these issues with respect to Anglo-Saxon literature. From the reverse perspective, the connections between reading and ethics (Brian Stock), and on reading as a tool for the "care of the self" (Michel Foucault) have been especially well mined in Antiquity, though this research has not been fully or even adequately extended to the early Middle Ages. It is our hope that our session will begin to do some of this comparative work. Papers may focus on forms of meditative, ascetic, and active reading; on representations of reading and readers; on didactic "professional reading" and/ or reading for leisure. We also welcome proposals that consider connections between medieval and contemporary reading praxis.
Samantha Zacher
Cultures of Reading in Anglo-Saxon England
Fetzer 2020
The aim of this session is to generate a lively dialogue about the variety of reading technologies available in early England, with a view to uncovering forms of continuity and difference across the medieval period. Such comparative work has not been especially forthcoming to date. To cite just a few examples, it is clear that despite the many studies produced in the last decade on the topics of reading for leisure (Glending Olson), on mnemonic and meditative reading (Mary Carruthers), and performative reading (Sarah McNamer) with regard to English writing in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, there has been little reciprocal treatment of these issues with respect to Anglo-Saxon literature. From the reverse perspective, the connections between reading and ethics (Brian Stock), and on reading as a tool for the "care of the self" (Michel Foucault) have been especially well mined in Antiquity, though this research has not been fully or even adequately extended to the early Middle Ages. It is our hope that our session will begin to do some of this comparative work. Papers may focus on forms of meditative, ascetic, and active reading; on representations of reading and readers; on didactic "professional reading" and/ or reading for leisure. We also welcome proposals that consider connections between medieval and contemporary reading praxis.
Samantha Zacher