Transforming Early English shows how historical pragmatics can offer a powerful explanatory framework for the changes medieval English and Older Scots texts undergo, as they are transmitted over time and space. The book argues that formal features such as spelling, script and font, and punctuation - often neglected in critical engagement with past texts - relate closely to dynamic, shifting socio-cultural processes, imperatives and functions. This theme is illustrated through numerous case-studies in textual recuperation, ranging from the reinvention of Old English poetry and prose in the later medieval and early modern periods, to the eighteenth-century 'vernacular revival' of literature in Older Scots.

Considers how medieval English and Scots texts were re-worked in later centuries, and the implications for philological theory and practice.

About the Author
Jeremy Smith is the University of Glasgow's Professor of English Philology, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies. His publications reflect his wide interests, which range from English historical linguistics and book history to the language of Robert Burns.

Reviews
'The questions that the book attempts to answer ... are ... extremely relevant, as any answers will have immediate and crucial import on the field of linguistics in general.' Marcin Krygier, Studia Anglica Posnaniensia



Book Information
ISBN 9781108420389
Author Jeremy J. Smith
Format Hardback
Page Count 308
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 540g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 156mm * 20mm