Title: London literature, 1300-1380
First published: 2005
Description: "English literary culture in the fourteenth century was vibrant and expanding. Its focus, however, was still strongly local, not national. This study examines the literary production from the capital before, during, and after the time of the Black Death. In this major contribution to the field, Ralph Hanna charts the development and the generic and linguistic features particular to London writing. He uncovers the interactions between texts and authors across a range of languages and genres: not just Middle English, but Anglo-Norman and Latin; not just romance, but also law, history and biblical commentary. Hanna emphasises the uneasy boundaries legal thought and discourse shared with historical and 'romance' thinking, and shows how the technique of romance, Latin writing associated with administrative culture, and biblical interests underwrote the great pre-Chaucerian London poem, William Langland's Piers Plowman."--Jacket.
Subjects: Authors, English, English Authors, English literature, History and criticism, Homes and haunts, In literature, Intellectual life, English literature, history and criticism, middle english, 1100-1500
Places: England, London, London (England)
Time periods: Middle English, 1100-1500, To 1500
LC classification: PR8475 .H36 2005