Visible Song: Transitional Literacy in Old English Verse (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England, Series Number 4)

O'Brien O'Keeffe, Katherine

ISBN 10: 0521375509 / ISBN 13: 9780521375504

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1990

About this Item

The book has aint overall fading and the previous owner's name on the front end page. Otherwise it is sharp, clean, and tightly-bound. The dust jacket has faint edge wear, slight rubbing, and light overall fading. Otherwise it is sharp, clean, and adorned with archival cover.

Seller Inventory # 1005716

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Visible Song: Transitional Literacy in Old English Verse (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England, Series Number 4)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521375509
• ISBN 13: 9780521375504
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literary Criticism

About this title

Synopsis

For many years there has been lively debate about the 'orality' or 'literacy' of Old English verse: about whether the Old English verse which has come down to us is primarily the product of oral composition or primarily written, insofar as it is transmitted only in manuscript. The present book throws light on this question by drawing our attention to a largely unexplored body of evidence, namely the graphic realization of Old English verse in the surviving manuscripts - how it is set out spatially, how it is marked up for reading with punctuation of various kinds. Professor O'Keeffe shows that by the late tenth century scribes had apparently ceased to alter the poems which they were transcribing by recourse to residual orality, and had begun to copy verbatim the poetic text before them. The entire orality-literacy debate has been lifted on to a new plane; the book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the way Old English verse has come down to us.

Book Description

This book throws light on the debate about the 'orality' or 'literacy' of Old English verse, whether it was transmitted orally or written down.