The Idea of the Vernacular: An Anthology of Middle English Literary Theory 1280-1520 (review)

Abstract

293 Wogan-Browne, Jocelyn, Nicholas Watson, Andrew Taylor and Ruth Evans, ed., The Idea of the Vernacular: An Anthology of Middle Engli Literary Theory 1280-1520, Exeter, University of Exeter Press, 1999; paper; pp. xvi, 504; 2 maps; R.R.P. £16.99; ISBN 0859895939. [Available in U S A and Canada from Penn State University Press.] The editors of this hard-working book have succeeded in producing a rare hybrid, the theorised scholarly contribution to medieval studies which can also double as a student textbook. Built around a comprehensive and extensively annotated set of excerpts from Middle English literature (in its broadest definition), the accompanying material forms a cumulative debate about the status of the vernacular in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The subtitle of the book, referring to 'Middle English Literary Theory', is slightly ambiguous. W h a t is meant by this is not a full examination of medieval literary theory of the kind undertaken by J. W . H. Atkins (missing from the Bibliography), but rather an assemblage of medieval opinions, accompanied by modern theories, about writing in the vernacular instead of in Latin and French. W h o chose to write in the vernacular, w h y and for w h o m were they writing? These are the central questions addressed by all the various parts of the book, in a format reminiscent of Alastair Minnis's work on medieval authorship. The textual evidence which forms the central core of the book is drawn entirely from the prologues to a wide range of vernacular texts, from poetry and romance to chronicle and religious or political writing. As a way of introducing students to a generous sample of Middle English literature that goes beyond the 'easy' accessible pieces, this is a lively and well chosen selection whose unity of function (the prologue) leads to interesting comparisons. Appropriately for a book that features the literary prologue, it is notably structured around various types of introduction and preface. The texts themselves are arranged in three sections, on author, audience and models of the reading process. Each section begins with a brief and well theorised introduction, including a description of the chosen texts which locates them for us thematicaUy. Each text is then prefaced by some useful notes on the date, author, likely or intended audience, and a summary of i t contents. Signalling its functionality for student readers, there are 294 Reviews also line glosses and /or end notes for each text, as well as an excellent glossary, itself prefaced by a careful explanation of its rationale. The whole book, moreover, is prefaced by a formal introduction which sets out the theoretical parameters and explains w h y there is an emphasis on the nonChaucerian tradition of Middle English writing (though samples of Chaucer's work are indeed included in the anthology). Finally, the book includes five short critical essays on various aspects of vernacular writing, prefaced by a short statement reiterating the importance of debating theories about such writing and its contexts. Of the three sections containing the primary texts, the second, 'Addressing and Positioning the Audience', has perhaps the least satisfactory introduction, mainly because of the theoretical (and actual) difficulties related to the recovery of 'audience'. Though the introduction assumes, following Paul Strohm's taxonomy of audiences, that a 'real' audience can be empirically recovered from data contained in wills, inventories, records of commissions and so on, the comments about actual audiences, such as the section on oppositional readings, remain almost entirely hypothetical. In fact it is clear from the texts themselves that this section is about the construction of identities, which is different from addressing or locating the audience. The vigour of m a n y of the connecting pieces of commentary throughout the book and its relative coherence suggest the large contribution made by 'general editor' Jocelyn Wogan-Browne. Despite an overall excellence of presentation and keen attention to detail, there are a few inescapable signs of the committee product. Although each section of the anthology was compiled by a different contributor (as explained in the acknowledgements), their names are not attached, giving the impression of a democratically-produced unity. Nevertheless, the different styles...