Introduction: confronting medieval and early modern canons

Mary C. Flannery, Carrie Griffin

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorial

Abstract

In this introduction, the editors lay out the rationale behind this special issue. The goal of this issue is to identify and disrupt the complacency surrounding the medieval and early modern canon with a view to achieving two things. Firstly, we hope to uncover new approaches to the study of premodern literature that might result in a more accurate and inclusive account of what texts were of greatest significance to readers and writers in medieval and early modern England, even if those texts have typically been excluded from discussions of the medieval and early modern literary canons over the past three centuries. Secondly, we hope to draw attention to some of the problematic roles that medieval and early modern English texts have played as foundation stones of the English literary canon, and how they might equally serve to disrupt some of the assumptions on which that canon has traditionally been founded.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)201-210
Number of pages10
JournalTextual Practice
Volume38
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Canon
  • early modern
  • English
  • literary
  • medieval

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Introduction: confronting medieval and early modern canons'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this