Readings in Medieval Texts offers a thorough and accessible introduction to the interpretation and criticism of a broad range of Old and Middle English canonical texts from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. The volume brings together 24 newly commissioned chapters by a leading international team of medieval scholars. An introductory chapter highlights the overarching trends in the composition of English Literature in the Medieval periods, and provides an overview of the textual continuities and innovations. Individual chapters give detailed information about context, authorship, date, and critical views on texts, before providing fascinating and thought-provoking examinations of crucial excerpts and themes. This book will be invaluable for undergraduate and graduate students on all courses in Medieval Studies, particularly those focusing on understanding literature and its role in society.

About the Author
Elaine Treharne is Professor of Medieval Literature in the Department of English at the University of Leicester. She has published widely in the field of Medieval Literature and manuscript studies. She is currently Chair of the English Association, and member of its Fellowship and Higher Education Committees, and Second Vice-President of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists. David F. Johnson is Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities at FSU, and Executive Director of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists. He specializes in Medieval English, Latin, and Germanic literatures and has published extensively in these areas.

Reviews
Essays are intended for students undertaking beginning coursework in medieval literature and thus tend to offer general overviews of the topic at hand as well as models of close reading and textual analysis. * The Years Work in English Studies *
valuable additions to the scholarship on medieval literature...extremely useful for teachers faced with a new, confused crop of undergraduates each year * Cory J. Rushton, Nottingham Medieval Studies *
This collection of twenty-five essays achieves good coverage and balance...we should all order this book for our institutional libraries of course, but it is also a book that we could justifiably recommend for student purchase. * Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199261635
Author David F. Johnson
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 138mm * 23mm