eBook

John Skelton and poetic authority : defining the liberty to speak

Griffiths, Jane

2006

Overview

This book is the first book-length study of Skelton for almost twenty years (including the only substantial study to date of Skelton's translation of the Bibliotheca Historica of Diodorus Siculus), and the first to trace the roots of his poetic theory to his practice as a writer and translator. It demonstrates that much of what has been found challenging in his work may be attributed to his attempt to reconcile existing views of the poet's role in society with discoveries about the writing process itself. The result is a highly idiosyncratic poetics that locates the poet's authority decisively within his own person, yet at the same time predicates his ‘liberty to speak’ upon the existence of an engaged, imaginative audience. Skelton is frequently treated as a maverick, but this book places his theory and practice firmly in the context of later sixteenth as well as 15th-century traditions. Focusing on his relations with both past and present readers, it reassesses his place in the English literary canon.

• Publisher: Clarendon Press,Oxford University Press,Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Subject: 1460?-1529 / 16th century / Authority in literature / Authorship / Criticism and interpretation / History / Liberty in literature / Literary Studies (1500 to 1800) / Literary Studies (Early and Medieval) / Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets) / Poetry / Skelton, John / Skelton, John, 1460?-1529
• ISBN: 019927360X, 9780199273607