The Rise of Prison Literature in the Sixteenth Century - Hardcover

Ahnert, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1107040302 ISBN 13: 9781107040304

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Examining works by some of the most famous prisoners from the early modern period including Thomas More, Lady Jane Grey and Thomas Wyatt, Ruth Ahnert presents the first major study of prison literature dating from this era. She argues that the English Reformation established the prison as an influential literary sphere. In the previous centuries we find only isolated examples of prison writings, but the religious and political instability of the Tudor reigns provided the conditions for the practice to thrive. This book shows the wide variety of genres that prisoners wrote, and it explores the subtle tricks they employed in order to appropriate the site of the prison for their own agendas. Ahnert charts the spreading influence of such works beyond the prison cell, tracing the textual communities they constructed, and the ways in which writings were smuggled out of prison and then disseminated through script and print.

About this title

Book Description

The first major study of prison literature dating from the early modern period, this book shows how the religious and political instability of the Tudor reigns provided conditions for prison literature to thrive. Ahnert demonstrates how prisoners used the power of the written word to make meaning from their experience.

About the Author

Ruth Ahnert is a Lecturer in Early Modern Studies in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London. Her work focuses on the literature and culture of the Tudor period, with a specific emphasis on religious history, prison writing and letter writing. Recent and forthcoming publications examine prison scenes in early modern drama, trial narratives and Protestant letter networks. Dr Ahnert serves on the Council of the Society for Renaissance Studies and is co-editor of the Society's Bulletin.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1107040302
• ISBN 13: 9781107040304
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 241