Writing the Future: LaƷamon's Prophetic History by Kelley M. Wickham-Crowley (review)

Abstract

82ARTHURIANA pages and perhaps some different methodological and theoretical tools; it would be hard, and I'm not volunteering to do it myself. My point is that his argument needs—and 1 think amply repays—a little generosity. It is not, finally, so difficult to table the question of Boccaccio's relation to the medieval mainstream; no book can answer all the questions it raises. Stone's attitude toward other critics may not inspire generosity on the pan ofhis readers, but I recommend it nonetheless: this is a book of fiches, a book that (to coin a phrase) both instructs and delights. THOMAS C. STILLINGER University of Utah kelley M. wickham-crowley, Writing the Future: Lajamon's Prophetic History. Catdiff: University ofWales Press, 2002. Pp. viii, 182. isbn: 0-7083-1714-6. £45. This volume is the first monogtaph on Lajamon's Brut to be undertaken with the full benefit of the upsurge ofscholarly activity on the poem some fifteen years ago. Now that more pressing issues have been addressed, it is possible for Lagamon scholarship to turn to more theoretical approaches; in this case, Bakhtinian analysis. The argument is developed in three chapters which explore Layamon's relation to language: as a cultural product defining the identity of individuals; as a means of communicating and preserving past narratives through writing; and as a tool to connect past discourses and future readers (mainly through the chatacter ofMerlin and his prophecies). Each section provides an overview ofprevious criticism on the topic, presents the evidence in the text, then closes with insights and interpretative keys offered by the writings of Bakhtin, which in turn serve as springboard for the following chapter. More important than Bakhtin for the development of the argument, howevet, is the 1990 atticle by Daniel Donoghue on Lajamon's 'ambivalence.' This article is discussed in some detail in the introduction and its influence may be felt throughout the book, as the intellectual backdrop to the As central hypothesis: that the Brut 'reflects a hybrid community in active dialogue' (p. 13), characterized by ¡nclusiveness rather than ambivalence. That Lajamon's world was cultutally diverse has long been recognized, since Constance Bullock-Daviess groundbreakingwork on latimers in medieval England; that the poet himself was proficient in at least two languages is readily apparent from the fact that his poem is a translation from the French. The core question is the extent and nature ofthe dialogic dimension to the Brut. Much ofwhat is said of the poem in this respect is true also of Lagamon's source text, Wace's Roman de Brut, and ofthe latet Anglo-Norman Bruts, in both French and English. In particular, the treatment by Lagamon ofissues ofduty to heritage, otality and textuality, past narrative and present readers, was certainly determined for a great part by the conventions of Anglo-Norman historical writing. It is regrettable that the A. does not appeat to have been familiar with Peter Damian-Grint's work on key concepts in Anglo-Notman historiography, especially his 'EstoireasWord and Genre: Meaning and Literary Usage in the Twelfth Century' (MediumAevum 66, 1997: 188-205) ar>d REVIEWS83 The New Historians ofthe Twelfth-Century Renaissance (Woodbridge, 1999). In the light of this recent research, it is clear that Bakhtin's generic distinctions are not especially helpful for our understanding of the Brut, though his views on language prove to be more fruitful. The moral dimension to language and its importance in shaping our response to the theme of betrayal in La^amon's poem is perceptively analysed in chaptct 1, whilst the exploration of the possible interaction between preaching andwriting (chapter 3) makes a number ofcogent points that will certainly be revisited by other scholars. Also notewotthy is the discussion ofthe function of Merlin and his prophecies in the Brut. This is a well-researched, carefully produced and clearly written piece of scholarship, that all students ofLa^amon and ofArthurian literature will read with profit. And while it will not prove to be as controversial as Daniel Donoghue's 1990 article, it is to be hoped that it will spark new research into hithetto unexplored aspects of the Brut. FRANÇOISE LE SAUX University of Reading...