At no time in the history of the West has translation played a more vital role than in the Middle Ages. Centuries before the appearance of the first extant vernacular documents, bilingualism, and preferably trilingualism, was a necessity in the scriptorium and chancery; and since the emergence of Romance had rendered the entire corpus of classical literature incomprehensible to all but the literati, both old and new worlds awaited (re)discovery or, to use Jerome's metaphor, conquest. The diversity of medieval translation is illustrated, although not encompassed, by the diversity of chapters in the present volume. Authors treat the methods and reception of translators of vernacular to Latin and vernacular to vernacular, texts of a variety of genres and many different languages and periods. The collection will present a welcome offering of different scholarly approaches to the critical issue of medieval translators and their craft.

About the Author

Jeanette Beer was a professor of French at Purdue University and associate editor of Purdue Studies in Romantic Literature and is professor emerita at Oxford University.

Book Information
ISBN 9780918720955
Author Jeanette Beer
Format Hardback
Page Count 438
Imprint Medieval Institute Publications
Publisher Medieval Institute Publications
Weight(grams) 755g