Overview
- Provides the first book-length study of sincerity and its ramifications for the English Middle Ages
- Brings together social, linguistic, literary and emotional histories to cast new light on medieval thought, texts and communication
- Offers fresh insights to scholars of historical linguistics, historical pragmatics, medieval literature, linguistic anthropology and the history of emotions
- Examines how the functions of affective language in the history of English vary according to their cultural-ideological context
- Demonstrates how Christianization as a process of acculturation relates to the study of language history, especially pragmatics and stylistics
Part of the book series: New Approaches to English Historical Linguistics (NAEHL)
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Table of contents (6 chapters)
Keywords
- English language
- history of literature
- language and culture
- historical linguistics
- literary-stylistic history
- historical pragmatics
- language history
- history of emotions
- Old Norse
- Middle English
- Anglo-Norman
- Old English
- philology
- language and emotion
- English Middle Ages
- medieval literature
- literary diction
- British and Irish Literature
About this book
Reviews
“Williams has succeeded in writing a book that is balanced in terms of structure and content. … To read this interesting book, one does not need to be a professional philologist specialized in Medieval English. It suffices to be familiar with current linguistic terminology and to have a general understanding of the spread of Christianity into Europe. I would in fact recommend the book to any linguist interested in understanding how Christianity has influenced the European notion and language of emotions.” (Heli Tissari,Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, Vol. 55, 2020)
“In this engrossing new study, Graham Williams adroitly traces the history of the concept of sincerity across Old and Middle English literature. Combining a well-grounded expertise in linguistics and pragmatics with a sensitive capacity for literary close reading, Williams persuasively shows how in key domains of human experience medieval people learned how to feel, and then how to express their feelings – of contrition, of love – aligning their inward dispositions with socially-sanctioned emotional performance. Taking a new and highly productive look at this vital aspect of medieval feeling, Williams’ book deserves the attention of all scholars of emotion.” (Carolyne Larrington, Professor of Medieval European Literature, University of Oxford, UK)“Weaving together linguistic, emotional, social and literary histories in magisterial fashion, Williams traces the English cultural-ideological basis of sincerity, showing how it developed in the communicative contextsof Christian devotion but came to influence more general interactional contexts, which in turn shaped the notion of sincerity itself. Original, erudite and insightful, the book is a landmark that deserves to be read.” (Jonathan Culpeper, Professor of English Language and Linguistics, Lancaster University, UK)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Sincerity in Medieval English Language and Literature
Authors: Graham Williams
Series Title: New Approaches to English Historical Linguistics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54069-0
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-54068-3Published: 06 June 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-54069-0Published: 17 May 2018
Series ISSN: 2946-4056
Series E-ISSN: 2946-4064
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIII, 256
Topics: Historical Linguistics, Early Modern/Renaissance Literature, Language and Literature, Pragmatics, British and Irish Literature, Comparative Linguistics