Reading Piers Plowman by Emily Steiner
Reading 'Piers Plowman' is an indispensable scholarly guide to a magnificent - and notoriously difficult - medieval poem. With 'Piers Plowman', the fourteenth-century poet William Langland proved that English verse could be at once spiritually electrifying and intellectually rigorous, capable of imagining society in its totality while at the same time exploring heady ideas about language, theology and culture. In her study of Piers Plowman, Emily Steiner explores how Langland's ambitious poetics emerged in dialogue with contemporary ideas; for example, about political counsel and gender, the ethics of poverty, Christian and pagan learning, lordship and servitude, and the long history of Christianity. Lucid and comprehensive, Steiner's study teaches us to stay alert to the poem's stunning effects while still making sense of its literary and historical contexts.
'This vigorous and ingenious reading of Piers Plowman manages in compressed compass to convey a wide range of ideas articulated by the poem, implied through its poetic strategies, and associated with late-medieval ChristianitySumming up: recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.' A. Galloway, Choice
'In a world of texts that look to take readers through the whole of Piers Plowman, Steiner's contribution stands out as an ideal example. Historically grounded, accessible, engaging, and often exciting, it will no doubt prove a classroom staple. Students, instructors, and scholars will want to include this in their collections and will surely rely on it as a welcome resource with frequency and gratitude.' The Medieval Review
'In a world of texts that look to take readers through the whole of Piers Plowman, Steiner's contribution stands out as an ideal example. Historically grounded, accessible, engaging, and often exciting, it will no doubt prove a classroom staple. Students, instructors, and scholars will want to include this in their collections and will surely rely on it as a welcome resource with frequency and gratitude.' The Medieval Review
Emily Steiner is Associate Professor of English Literature and an award-winning teacher at the University of Pennsylvania. She is presently co-editor (with Rebecca Davis and Lawrence Warner) of the Yearbook of Langland Studies. She is the author of Documentary Culture and the Making of Medieval English Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2003).
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780521687836 |
| ISBN 10 | 0521687837 |
| Title | Reading Piers Plowman |
| Author | Emily Steiner |
| Series | Reading Writers And Their Work |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| Year published | 2013-05-09 |
| Number of pages | 273 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |