Langland, Language, and Theology
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Special Session
Organizer Name
Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger, Curtis Gruenler
Organizer Affiliation
Indiana Univ.-Bloomington, Hope College
Presider Name
Curtis Gruenler
Paper Title 1
Salience and the Eddying Back of Sense
Presenter 1 Name
Cristina Maria Cervone
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Memphis
Paper Title 2
The Miracles of Jesus in Piers Plowman
Presenter 2 Name
Rosanne Gasse
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Brandon Univ.
Paper Title 3
On the Apophatic in Piers Plowman
Presenter 3 Name
Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger
Paper Title 4
Langlandian Drama
Presenter 4 Name
Ryan McDermott
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Univ. of Pittsburgh
Start Date
10-5-2013 10:00 AM
Session Location
Schneider 2355
Description
Scholars of the Middle English author William Langland have paid much attention to the poet's use of language in Piers Plowman, focusing on how the poem's linguistic difficulties and allegorical figurations contribute to its project of social and religious renovation. Another vein of Langland scholarship has focused on the religious and theological import of the poem, situating its sharp criticisms in religious developments in England and on the continent and attempting to outline the theological visions towards which the poem gestures. Our panel seeks to bring these two strands of criticism together by examining the ways in which the poem's language might in fact be the best place to locate its theological priorities. How the poem communicates is in fact at the heart of Landland's religious agenda. We invite papers that examine any aspect of how the poem's poetic difficulties contribute to its theology. In its investigation of the relationship between form and content, this panel will also encourage medievalists to engage in the broader conversation going on in literary studies which is often called ‘New Formalism.
Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger and Curtis Gruenler
Langland, Language, and Theology
Schneider 2355
Scholars of the Middle English author William Langland have paid much attention to the poet's use of language in Piers Plowman, focusing on how the poem's linguistic difficulties and allegorical figurations contribute to its project of social and religious renovation. Another vein of Langland scholarship has focused on the religious and theological import of the poem, situating its sharp criticisms in religious developments in England and on the continent and attempting to outline the theological visions towards which the poem gestures. Our panel seeks to bring these two strands of criticism together by examining the ways in which the poem's language might in fact be the best place to locate its theological priorities. How the poem communicates is in fact at the heart of Landland's religious agenda. We invite papers that examine any aspect of how the poem's poetic difficulties contribute to its theology. In its investigation of the relationship between form and content, this panel will also encourage medievalists to engage in the broader conversation going on in literary studies which is often called ‘New Formalism.
Kerilyn Harkaway-Krieger and Curtis Gruenler