A Guide to Welsh Literature: 1530-1700 (University of Wales Press - Guide to Welsh Literature) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0708314007 ISBN 13: 9780708314005

Publisher: University of Wales Press, 1997

Synopsis

This is the third of a series of volumes outlining the history and development of Welsh literature from its beginnings in the sixth century to the present day.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to Welsh literature of the period c. 1530-1700. During this period Welsh literature underwent a profound transformation, largely reflecting the political and social changes of the times. The old professional poetry went into a lingering decline, and new forms of free-metre verse arose to take its place. The advent of humanism provided the impetus for remarkable Biblical translations, which laid the foundations for a new style of religious prose-writing practiced in varying ways by Anglicans, Puritans and Catholics alike. From a total dependence on manuscripts for the dissemination of literature at the beginning of the sixteenth century there was a shift to an almost total dependence on print by the end of the seventeenth century. All these topics are discussed lucidly and systematically by leading authorities.

About this title

About the Author:

Professor Robert Geraint Gruffydd, FLSW, FBA (9 June 1928-24 March 2015) was a scholar of Welsh language and literature. From 1970 to 1979, he was Professor of Welsh Language and Literature at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and was made Emeritus Professor in 1993.

Review:

“ . . . in the excellent Guides to Welsh Literature.” –The Year’s Work in English Studies

(The Year's Work in English Studies)

“A Guide to Welsh Literature c.1530-1700 mirrors the labours and mission of the scholars, poets, prose writers and translators whose works it seeks so succinctly and diligently to appreciate and evaluate. They would have revelled in its scholarship and erudition. It is a fitting tribute to their creativity and vision.” –Books in Wales

(Books in Wales)

“The contributors to this volume do an excellent job of addressing the far-ranging effects of these developments on Welsh poetry and prose, while also highlighting the uniqueness of individual poets and writers . . . Given that this volume contains eleven chapters by eleven different contributions, it is remarkably coherent. While the thorough index makes this a very useful reference book, it can also be read straight through as a fluid narrative of literary history . . . Each chapter constitutes a solid introduction to its specific field . . .” –New Welsh Review

(New Welsh Review)

“The third volume of A Guide to Welsh Literature covers an époque in the history of Welsh literature which is characterised by profound changes in its form, function and content, reflecting equally profound changes in social and political structures . . . The book provides students of Welsh and Celtic with a fine survey of Welsh literature in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and more with an impressive and up to date introduction to the intellectual life of Wales in this crucial period of its history.” –Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie

(Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Wales Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0708314007
• ISBN 13: 9780708314005
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 293
• Editor: Gruffydd Geraint