Authenticity and Excess in The Examinations of Anne Askew

Abstract

The two volumes that constitute The Examinations of Anne Askew, published by the reformer John Bale in 1546–47, present a sparse first-person heresytrial narrative ascribed to Askew herself, interspersed with a lengthy polemical commentary by Bale and packaged amid a range of paratexts. Drawing on textual studies and feminist (or gender) theory, modern criticism habitually posits an antagonism between Bale and Askew, maligning Bale for obscuring an original Askew text or an original Askew voice, especially via the excesses of his editing and commentating practices. This essay offers an alternative perspective. Focusing on the medium of communication (early print), and drawing on the theory of remediation developed within media studies, it argues that the apparently surplus elements of the Examinations are, in fact, integral to the work’s representation of an authentic Askew text/voice in the first place. It therefore calls for a reconsideration of what it means to separate Askew from Bale, as some sixteenth century editions did, and as our teaching anthologies typically do today. In addition, it opens up the question of whether some of the characteristics we tend to view as definitive of today’s “new” media might also have been used to promote an impression of authenticity in early print culture.