Literacy and Identity in Early Medieval Ireland
            
                Studies in Celtic History
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Published: 2013
Number of pages: 238
ISBN-13: 9781843838555
Description: Much of our knowledge of early medieval Ireland comes from the rich literature written in a variety of genres and in two languages, Irish and Latin. Who wrote this literature and what role did they play within society? What did the introduction and expansion of literacy mean in a culture where the vast majority of the population continued to be non-literate? How did literacy operate in and intersect with the oral world. Was literacy a key element in the formation and articulation of communal and elite senses of identity? This book addresses these issues in full.