Tradition and influence in Anglo-Saxon literature
Subtitle: an evolutionary, cognitivist approach
By: Michael D. C. Drout
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 290
ISBN-13: 9781137325808
Subjects: English literature; History and criticism; Theory; English language; Texts; Civilization, Anglo-Saxon, in literature; Civilization, Medieval, in literature; Civilization; Memetics; LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval; Exeter book
Description: "Connecting the theory of tradition with the phenomenon of influence, Michael D. C. Drout moves beyond current theories and extends his own work from How Tradition Works. This forward-looking study introduces a new methodology--lexomics, the use of computer-aided statistical analysis to identify influence--and integrates research from cognitive psychology and evolutionary biology with traditional, philological approaches to literature, specifically Anglo-Saxon poems of the Exeter Book. An example of hard interdisciplinarity, Tradition and Influence in Anglo-Saxon Literature contributes to Anglo-Saxon studies, oral traditional theory, evolutionary epistemology and cultural theory"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-277) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note:; title: Introduction: Influence and Tradition; title: 1. A Theory of Influence; title: 2. Influence and its Detection with Lexomic Analysis; title: 3. Cultural Selection Pressure: Mnemonic and Cognitive Aesthetics; title: 4. Adaptive Landscapes, Cognitive Prototypes, and Genre; title: 5. Application of the Theory: Genre and Adaptive Radiation in Poems of the Exeter Book; title: 6. Authorship, Authors, and The Anxiety of Influence; title: 7. How Authorship Works: The Anxiety of Influence Explained by Memetics; title: Conclusion: This View of Culture.