Abstract
Literary history rarely associates women with writing and cultural production in the earliest period of English literature (c.600–1150). More commonly this Anglo-Saxon period is ignored even by historians of women’sliterature. In consequence, as scholars and teachers of this early culture we are often asked the following questions. What, women and the origins of English literature? Were women writing? What were they writing? This chapter, however, demonstrates that early medieval women are vital to the production and reception of literary culture. It’sall a matter of rethinking the evidence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
See Clare A. Lees and Gillian R. Overing, Double Agents: Women and Clerical Culture in Anglo-Saxon England (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001
A useful survey is R. D. Fulk, Christopher M. Cain, and Rachel S. Anderson, A History of Old English Literature (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002).
See Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, Saints’ Lives and Women’sLiterary Culture: Virginity and Its Authorizations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 249–56.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2012 Clare A. Lees and Gillian R. Overing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lees, C.A., Overing, G.R. (2012). Women and the Origins of English Literature. In: McAvoy, L.H., Watt, D. (eds) The History of British Women’s Writing, 700–1500. The History of British Women’s Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230360020_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230360020_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-31376-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-36002-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)