IMC 2011: Sessions
Session 202: Sessions in Honor of Tom Shippey, I: The Economy of Speech Acts in Old Norse and Old English Literature
Monday 11 July 2011, 14.15-15.45
| Sponsor: | Department of English & Technical Communications, Missouri University of Science & Technology |
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| Organiser: | Eric Shane Bryan, Department of English & Technical Communications, Missouri University of Science & Technology |
| Paper 202-a | More than Words: Female Heroic Speeches and the Presentation of Tokens in Old English Poetry (Language: English) Index terms: Anthropology, Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Old English, Women's Studies |
| Paper 202-b | 'Odin Has the Nobles Who Fall in Battle / And Thor Has the Breed of Serfs' (Hárbarðsljóð): Insult or Fact? (Language: English) Index terms: Anthropology, Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions |
| Paper 202-c | Rich or Poor, Pagan or Christian?: Speech Acts and the Conversion and Christianization of Iceland (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Mentalities, Pagan Religions, Religious Life |
| Abstract | Professor Tom Shippey is among the leaders in applying discourse analysis to medieval vernacular literature. This session honors his work by employing methodologies of pragmatic linguistic theory to explore both social and mythological ramifications of indirectness in speech communication. The first paper observes the relationship between gift-giving and indirect speech acts. The second paper examines 'Face Threatening Acts' that, directly or indirectly, clarify mythological currency and status within the Norse pantheon. The third paper applies principles of speech acts to examine the spiritual wealth and poverty reflected in early Icelandic literary representations of conversion and Christianization. |