Plenary Speakers
Prof. Sebastian Sobecki, University of Toronto,
"The Role of Middle English Literature in the Context of Global Medieval Travel Writing"
Global medieval travel writing is not a self-explanatory concept. ‘Global’ stands for the ‘forces that globalise’ as opposed to ‘all-encompassing’, whereas ‘medieval’ loses its purchase beyond Europe and the Middle East. The period referred to as ‘medieval’ saw European and Middle Eastern forces globalise the world culturally and politically, militarily and ideologically. The early history of global travel writing therefore cannot be told without prioritising the cultural expansion of Christianity and Islam, the enslavement of Africans and Asians by European and Middle Eastern peoples, and the enmeshing of ever larger swathes of territory in transnational economies. In this vastly expanded world, what was the place of Middle English writings, crafted in a local language that was not even the code of choice in its home polities? How did Middle English texts report, shape, and participate in the world of global travel? This lecture will engage with several literary and pragmatic texts and examine their material contexts.
Dr. Judith Huber, University of Munich,
"Verbalizing Motion and Travel in Middle English"
This talk focuses on the linguistic expression of travelling and moving in Middle English and explores the outcomes of the contact between predominantly satellite-framing Middle English (the type sail across the Channel, with ‘path’ expressed outside the verb and the verb often carrying manner information) and predominantly verb-framing medieval French (the type traverser la Manche, with ‘path’ expressed in the verb). Anglo-Norman as a contact variety is particularly interesting in this regard. Based on the analysis of dictionaries, thesauri, and selected Old and Middle English texts, the lecture investigates the lexical material and the syntactic patterns used to talk about motion. We will see, for instance, how go is generalizing from its specific meaning ‘go on foot’ (still e.g. in Ne ganninde [Otho: goinde] ne ridinde (c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)1582)) to supersede fare as the most frequent motion verb next to come (cf. OE þe to mynstre cumað, oðþe fram mynstre farað (BenR 53.83.8) vs. ME when þai ga and when þai cume (a1425 Ben.Rule(1) (Lnsd 378)) and how more and more verbs are drawn into intransitive motion readings, such as hie, travel, both originally meaning ‘to exert oneself’, or walk, originally meaning ‘to roll, toss about’.
Prof. Margaret Connolly, University of St Andrews,
"From Hand to Hand: Movements of Middle English Manuscripts"
From the very moment they were created by the hands of medieval scribes, Middle English manuscripts have been on the move. Some movements from owner to owner or place to place were deliberate whilst others have been accidental, but all have influenced the texts we now read and the physical formats in which those texts survive. Drawing on examples from a wide range of Middle English manuscripts this lecture will reveal how the form of the medieval book has been shaped by the hands of readers, collectors, antiquaries, book dealers, scholars, and librarians. It will also consider why awareness of this process of transformation is important for our understanding of medieval literature.
Dr. Daniel Sawyer, University of Oxford,
"Teaching Middle English Poetry Now"
Middle English is in some senses a niche interest: a tongue that found limited use in its own time, now experienced by some (not all!) students as an obligation. But since the end of its era Middle English verse has also travelled further and found wider readerships. Today, Middle English persists within a variety of different higher education contexts. I will survey this landscape and consider the hurdles facing Middle English poetry teaching alongside the field’s strengths, old and new. Some starting points for discussion will emerge from my experience both of teaching and of writing a teaching book in the 2020s. The session will then move to group discussion, and finally convene to share problems, resources, and expertise.