Vernacular Poetics in the Middle Ages

Vernacular Poetics in the Middle Ages deals with the attitudes and assumptions about vernacular poetry from the eleventh to the fifteenth century. In contrast to most previous studies, the essays consider not only the formal poetics but, more importantly, the self-conscious examination of poetry which is increasingly evident in the poems themselves in this period as writers turn from Latin to the imperfect, mutable language of the vernacular. The approaches of the contributors to this volume rep…