The Idea of Anglo-Saxon England 1066-1901: Remembering, Forgetting, Deciphering, and Renewing the Past

ISBN-13: 9781118943328 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 448 str.

John D. Niles

Opis

• The Idea of Anglo Saxon England, 1066-1901 presents the first systematic review of the ways in which Anglo-Saxon studies have evolved from their beginnings to the twentieth century
• Tells the story of how the idea of Anglo-Saxon England evolved from the Anglo-Saxons themselves to the Victorians, serving as a myth of origins for the English people, their language, and some of their most cherished institutions
• Combines original research with established scholarship to reveal how current conceptions of English identity might be very different if it were not for the discovery - and invention - of the Anglo-Saxon past
• Reveals how documents dating from the Anglo-Saxon era have greatly influenced modern attitudes toward nationhood, race, religious practice, and constitutional liberties
• Includes more than fifty images of manuscripts, early printed books, paintings, sculptures, and major historians of the era

Recenzje

A cogent and well–written overview of the major authors, artists, scholars, and books that give us our current views of Anglo Saxon England. As such, it is a book worth recommending to colleagues who study later periods. It is also a wonderful introduction to Anglo–Saxonism. Niles is to be congratulated on a welcome and thorough survey. – Stephen Harris, University of Massachusetts, Modern Philology.

"One of the highlights of The Idea of Anglo–Saxon England is its well–written, entertaining style. Throughout, Niles displays a keen eye for detail, often highlighting anecdotal, amusing and occasionally shocking facts." – Thijs Porck, 2016. Review AMSTERDAMER BEITRÄGE ZUR ÄLTEREN GERMANISTIK.

Spis treści

List of Vignettes vi

Preface and Acknowledgements vii

Abbreviations xiii

List of Figures xv

1 The Impact of the Norman Conquest 1

2 The Discovery of Anglo ]Saxon England in Tudor Times 49

3 British Antiquaries and the Anglo ]Saxon Past 77

4 The Founding of a Discipline 1600 1700 109

5 A Period of Consolidation 1700 1800 147

6 The Romantics and the Discovery of Old English Verse 186

7 The Triumph of Philology 220

8 Old English Studies in North America 265

9 Anglo ]Saxon England and the Empire 302

Afterword 378

Some Landmark Publications 381

Works Cited 395

Index 415

O autorze

John D. Niles is Professor Emeritus of Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Life Member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. A past president of the International Society of Anglo–Saxonists, he is the author or editor of a dozen books on Old English literature and related topics, including Beowulf: The Poem and Its Tradition (1983) and Homo Narrans: The Poetics and Anthropology of Oral Literature (1997).

Blurb

Six hundred years of Anglo–Saxon rule came to an abrupt end with the Battle of Hastings in 1066. That same date marked the onset of a surprising number of myths and misinformation regarding the Anglo–Saxon era and the origins of the English people. The Idea of Anglo–Saxon England presents the first systematic review of the ways in which the study of Old English language and literature and the concept of the Anglo–Saxon past itself evolved from the time of the Conquest, through the Early Modern period, up to the year of Queen Victoria s death at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Tracing this evolution stage by stage, the book s chapters reveal how documents dating from the Anglo–Saxon period have greatly influenced modern attitudes toward nationhood, race, religious practice, and constitutional liberties, even if sometimes through flawed acts of recovery. Over time, the idea of Anglo–Saxon England thus grew ever greater in influence, serving as a myth of origins for the English people, their language, and some of their most cherished institutions. The Idea of Anglo–Saxon England reveals how present concepts of Englishness might look very different were it not for the discovery and invention of the Anglo–Saxon past.