Writing the Future : Lazamon's Prophetic History

ISBN-13: 9780708317143 / Angielski / Twarda / 2002 / 182 str.

Kelley M. Wickham-Crowley

Opis

Lazamon's Brut -- a 12th-century verse history of Britain from its supposed foundation by Brutus to the seventh-century Cadwalader -- is the first major work in English after the Norman conquest and also marks the first appearance of the Arthurian legends in English. Despite its historical importance, previous Brut scholarship has tended to focus on the philological and linguistic aspects of the text. Using the work of Mikhail Bakhtin to rethink the relationship between literature and history in the Brut, this book demonstrates Lazamon's use of prophecy as a narrative strategy to unite political and religious ideologies. Also considered is the question of oral culture, the influence of the Welsh on the evolution of British political identity, and the concept of hybridity in Lazamon's vision for Britain's future.