In Fragments and Assemblages, Arthur Bahr expands the ways in which we interpret medieval manuscripts, examining the formal characteristics of both physical manuscripts and literary works. Specifically, Bahr argues that manuscript compilations from fourteenth-century London reward interpretation as both assemblages and fragments: as meaningfully constructed objects whose forms and textual contents shed light on the city's literary, social, and political cultures, but also as artifacts whose physical fragmentation invites forms of literary criticism that were unintended by their medieval makers. Such compilations are not simply repositories of data to be used for the reconstruction of the distant past; their physical forms reward literary and aesthetic analysis in their own right.

About the Author
Arthur Bahr is associate professor of literature at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Reviews
"Bahr's attractively written, often witty book, informed by a wide range of scholarship, elegantly demonstrates one way of using material form in the service of critical analysis." (Times Literary Supplement)



Book Information
ISBN 9780226269405
Author Arthur Bahr
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 397g
Dimensions(mm) 22mm * 14mm * 2mm