Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature (Canto Classics)

Are you pursing a degree in literature? Are you a literary researcher or literature professor? Are you very serious about expanding your knowledge of literature? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then this book is for you. If however, you are a casual reader this may be too academic for your needs.

A

C. S. Lewis’s Studies in a rather specialized study of particular pre-modern authors and works, such as the Brut, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Morte Darthur, Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, Spenser’s Faerie Queen, and Milton’s Comus. Three of the essays are helpful for reading pre-modern works in general; these being “De Audiendis Poetis,” “Imagination and Thought in the Middle Ages,” and “Edmund Spenser 1552-99.” From these the readers will pick up notes useful in reading any ‘old books.’ For instance, Lewis warns of the problem of definition of words in the old texts, not that they are obsolete, but that the words that are still in use have different meanings. The other essays are more specific to the works cited, and so may not be rewarding unless you read these works first. In “The Genesis of the Medieval Book,” Lewis writes of what is commonly written of in literary criticism today – influence. The Brut is indebted to previous works. Lewis addresses the problem of authorship, concluding it cannot be definite in works that are influenced and in a period when originality was not of prime importance. Essays on “Morte Darthur” and “Neoplatonism in the Poetry of Spenser” rely heavily on commentaries by other authors, as these are responses to them. In the essay on Tasso Lewis writes of the change of opinions on the author since he wrote Jerusalem Delivered. The essay adds a little to Lewis’s writing on Italian epics in Allegory of Love. This comes to the aspect of repetition in the book – it reiterates themes from Lewis’s Discarded Image, what I consider to be the more important book. In Discarded Image Lewis gives a good overview of the paradigm of Medieval England. It is a very good guide to medieval literature, addressing cosmology, theology, philosophy, etc. The Studies are more specialized by the authors included, the close readings, and largely linguistic approach to those author’s works. The book is more difficult than other Lewis books in that Italian and Latin phrases are not given English translations, though citations are attached.

C. S. LEWIS REMAINS A RELEVANT SCHOLAR, ONE THE MOST IMPORTANT, ADDRESSING MEDIEVAL LITERATURE. HE MIGHT. NOT AGREE WITH ALL ABOUT THE RENAISSANCE!

A great review that is excellently balanced and aware of its shortcomings. Makes one want to re-read "Faeire Queen" and other classics.

Its C. S. Lewis. Not much more to say!

Lewis's fame as a writer of Christian apologetics, fantasy, and science fiction is such that it's easy to forget his day job: professor of medieval literature first at Oxford then Cambridge. Although his professional output was fairly modest in quantity, in quality it enjoys a high reputation. His longer works include "The Allegory of Love", "English Literature in the Sixteenth Century", "Studies in Words", and "The Discarded Image". In addition to these, he also wrote a number of short works, which are published in this volume. To aid readers, I've listed the table of contents below: Preface (by Walter Hooper) "De Audiendis Poetis "The Genesis of a Medieval Book" "Imagination and Thought in the Middle Ages" "Dante's Similes" "Imagery in the Last Eleven Cantos of Dante's Comedy" "Dante's Statius" "The Morte Darthur" "Tasso" "Edmund Spenser, 1552-99" "On Reading the Faerie Queene" "Neoplatonism in the Poetry of Spenser" "Spenser's Cruel Cupid" "Genius and Genius" "A Note on Comus" Additional Editorial Notes Index None of these works are available in any other in-print collection (unusual for Lewis - his other shorter works have been collected multiple times in a variety of overlapping collections). As such, for those interested in the subject matter, this collection is highly recommended. A second important collection of Lewis's writings as a literary critic is "Selected Literary Essays", which unfortunately is out of print and very hard to find. Another such collection to consider, (largely concerned with the science fiction and fantasy genres), is "On Stories, and Other Essays". That work is readily available. Finally, those with a general interest in Lewis's shorter works may also want to get "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. While the collection centers around his writings on Christianity, it also includes a number of works of literary criticism, including all the works in "Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories".

It is not easy to define "Medievalism," nor what makes a "medieval" book. The reader is right to expect glorious castles, fair maidens, and feats of arms. However, when we pick up a medieval book, those elements are often missing and we are then subjected to often tortuous philosophical and moralistic reasoning. What gives? CS Lewis is aware of these difficulties and he mentions (in one of his chapters on Spenser) that what we call "medievalism" is actually late Renaissance projected back onto the middle ages. But, Lewis says, that's quite okay, too. In many ways, *Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature* is a running commentary on how to read allegory, mainly Dante's and Spenser's. Lewis begins with the making of a Medieval book--and the bookish manner of medievals in general. Parts of this section (the first 3 chapters) are quite difficult reading, even to those who are intimately familiar with the issues involved. But through it we see a contrast between medieval ways of reading texts and (post)modern ways of reading. The former looks for harmony while the latter looks upon texts with suspicion--the essence of both the medieval and modernistic worldviews, respectively. Lewis then concludes this section with a fascinating essay on medieval cosmology: and for the perceptive readers, this essay is the foundation of his *Space Trilogy.* The next chapters deal with Dante. Lewis takes several difficult passages in Dante and demonstrates to the reader how to run a literary critique upon them; the same technique applies to his chapters on Spenser. Lewis also deals with Morte D'Arthur and the "knightly" issues. I had to read this book at different times. It was really difficult because Lewis rarely gives a context for his references. However, the difficulty should not deter readers; there are many jewels in this book if the reader is willing to dig.

C.S. Lewis ist natürlich eine Ikone der Literaturwissenschaft - nicht mein Fach. Diese Sammlung aber ist sehr zugänglich. Für die Kulturgeschichte und Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften - schon mein Fach- ist allein schon das Artikel "Imagination and thought in the Middle Ages" wert dieses Buch zu kaufen. Über das MA und besonders die Gedanken und Vorstellungen im MA wird in Schulbücher, Geschichtsbücher auch von Historikern, Presse usw. noch viel Unsinn erzählt. Erst Lewi lesen,schreiben! Wer keine Muße hat für "Allegory of love" (die literarische Kultur des MA) oder "The discarded image" (das Welltbild imAltertum, MA und Renaissance) ein absolutes must. Sie werden staunen über das MA, es verstehen und verstehen was wir nicht nach vollziehen könnnen. Und zum Schluß werden Sie das MA und die Renaissance lieben.

Clever If A Bit Dry in places

Non satisfactory printing. The hyphens are at an angle throughout. Disturbing.