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IMC 2016: Sessions

Session 701: Cultural Contacts, Linguistic Traces: Comparative Approaches to Medieval Words and Books

Tuesday 5 July 2016, 14.15-15.45

Moderator/Chair:Helen Fulton, Department of English, University of Bristol
Paper 701-aDigression or Progression?: An Analysis of the Variant Spellings of Old English -ht in the Early Middle English Period
(Language: English)
Koichi Kano, Department of Cross-Cultural Studies, Koeki University, Japan
Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Paper 701-bGlossae collectae on Prudentius' Psychomachia: A Medieval Reference Book? - Some Reflections on the Function of the Psychomachia Glosses in the Collection of Latin Chronological Treatise, National Library of Russia, MS Lat. O. v. IV 1
(Language: English)
Gleb Schmidt, UFR d'histoire, Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne
Index terms: Language and Literature - Latin, Learning (The Classical Inheritance), Manuscripts and Palaeography, Science
Paper 701-cLiterature and Power in the 15th Century: Creation and Dissemination of Political Satire in Castille
(Language: English)
Nuria Corral Sánchez, Departamento de Historia Medieval, Moderna y Contemporánea, Universidad de Salamanca
Index terms: Language and Literature - Spanish or Portuguese, Political Thought, Rhetoric
Abstract

Paper -a:
This paper investigates the loss of the fricative sound in the Old English (OE) consonant cluster -ht in the Early Middle English period in terms of the variant spellings. Materials are exhaustively taken from the manuscripts and other sources whose provenances are confirmed by A Linguistic Atlas of Early Middle English. Basic methodology by Lass and Laing (2002) is employed for determining the correlation between the variant spellings and their pronunciation. We shall look into the tendency whether the fricative was maintained or lost in the following perspectives: (1) environments (front vowel + -ht v.s. back vowel + -ht, etc.), (2) dialects and, (3) textual background. Also a multilingual point of view will be added to consider the elements of the variant spellings and pronunciation for the reflex of OE -ht.

Paper -b:
The paper considers the fragments of glosses on Prudentius' Psychomachia found in the manuscript Lat. O. v. IV 1, National Library of Russia, St Petersburg. This manuscript represents a collection of chronological treatise of the classical type. It contains the work of the Venerable Bede, as well as some other texts on Christian chronology and computus. At the end of the codex, one finds the excerpts from the glosses on Prudentius's Psychomachia. Their occurrence seems to be accidental in the codex. Nevertheless, there is no reason to suppose that they were added later, because the codex is written in one very special hand, which makes us think of a Norman origin for the manuscript. The textual analysis of the chosen glosses shows that these commentaries could be used to explain the etymology of the names occurring in the chronological treatise, as well as relating to many passages in the core texts of the manuscript.

Paper -c:
The purpose of this paper is to study the production of satire in Castile during the 15th century. By the utilization of different methods from critical discourse studies, we have analysed its content of political complaint and the circumstances around its rhetorical construction: its authors' intentions (illocutionary act) and the consequences of the satire (perlocutionary act). In short, we have identified these writings as a political weapon related to interests and ideas, not just a sign of monarchical or bourgeois defense.

El propósito de esta comunicación es estudiar la producción de sátiras en Castilla durante el siglo XV. Utilizando diversos métodos procedentes del análisis del discurso hemos podido analizar de forma detallada su propio contenido, así como las circunstancias que envolvieron la construcción de las retóricas de denuncia: las intenciones de sus creadores (acto ilocutivo) y las consecuencias que tales escritos desencadenaron (acto perlocutivo). En conclusión, hemos identificado en estas composiciones satíricas un arma política que respondía a intereses y a ideas, lo que permite desechar interpretaciones previas que observaban dicha literatura como una simple muestra de apología monárquica o del enfrentamiento entre burguesía y nobleza.