Review of ''Landscapes of the Learned: Placing Gaelic Literati in Irish Lordships: 1300-1600'' (original) (raw)
Related papers
Literacy and Identity in Early Medieval Ireland, 2013
Winner of the 2015 Irish Historical Research Prize. Much of our knowledge of early medieval Ireland comes from a 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 the first full, inter-disciplinary examination of the Irish literate elite and their social contexts between ca. 400-1000 AD. It considers the role played by Hiberno-Latin authors, the expansion of vernacular literacy and the key place of monasteries within the literate landscape. Also examined are the crucial intersections between literacy and orality, which underpin the importance played by the literate elite in giving voice to aristocratic and communal identities. This study places these developments within a broader European context, underlining the significance of the Irish experience of learning and literacy.
Linguistic Education and Literary Creativity in Medieval Ireland
Texts in medieval Irish were traditionally used as a source from which to excavate the remnants of a radically ancient language and world-view -Celtic, oral, pre-Christian, ultimately Indo-European. In the past twenty years a new perspective has become dominant, emphasising the sophisticated contemporary concerns of the monastic literati who composed the texts that have come down to us. However, the disjuncture between those two approaches remains problematic. This article attempts a new approach to the question, emphasising the educational and scholarly context of medieval Irish creativity. Many of the monuments of the early Irish language are part of an enquiry into the history of language and languages, in which Irish interacts closely with the « three sacred languages » and especially Latin; the texts' depiction of the pagan past of Ireland is oriented through a scholarly engagement with Graeco-Roman paganism; and some of the key discourses of Irish saga literature are influenced by the programmes and methodologies of the Latin-based educational system of the time, especially questionand-answer dialogues. The article applies this approach in a case study from the heroic tale Tochmarc Emire, « The Wooing of Emer », in which a riddling dialogue between lovers is shown to be directly related to the lore of the canonical glossaries of Old Irish.
Speculum, 2024
occasionally constructs an idealized portrayal that I find somewhat challenging to wholly accept as entirely credible. Consequently, I am left questioning the extent to which these images were intended to evoke a heightened sense of listening. An illustrative instance is found in the third chapter, where Shoaf analyzes Giotto's Wedding at Cana in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua (1303-05), exploring how it invites viewers to discern subtle nuances of hearing. The analysis primarily revolves around the anatomical representation of the characters' ears. Whether portrayed as a healthy and well-formed organ or, conversely, as a deformed and nonfunctional one, the ear is seen as symbolic of the characters' capacity to hear or remain deaf to God, both in a physical and moral sense. In my perspective, while this analytical approach is certainly promising, it also reflects a bias. Shoaf draws a parallel with Giovanni da San Gimignano's Summa de exemplis regarding the ear and disciplined spiritual listening, without investigating whether Giotto, Enrico Scrovegni, or the Paduan milieu were acquainted with this text. Furthermore, the absence of discourse on how contemporary viewers might have perceived these images, and whether they could have perceived them at all, is notable. The scene in question, situated in the second register and positioned several meters above the ground, spans 200#185 cm, with the ears of the depicted figures measuring only a few centimeters. Considering the original lighting conditions, markedly different from today's well-lit environments and often cast in half light, it is reasonable to infer that medieval viewers would likely have struggled to discern such minute details. In fact, drawing from personal observation, I can affirm that even in present lighting conditions, these details are scarcely visible. Despite these aspects, it is undeniable that the volume is intellectually stimulating, and the extensive bibliography provided by Shoaf substantiates many of the hypotheses put forth. While not all arguments presented are equally persuasive and might not find unanimous agreement, the book compels readers to reconsider their perspectives. It encourages a more open-minded approach toward comprehending how art and images not only visually captivate audiences but also evoke intricate sensations. Indeed, the merit of this book and its author lies in challenging conventional viewpoints and fostering a deeper understanding of how art stimulates the public, creating multifaceted sensory experiences. In conclusion, this contribution undoubtedly marks a pivotal juncture in the advancement of sensory studies and innovative methodologies applied to the field of art history.
Assessing the relative status of languages in medieval Ireland
2000
Almost the entire records of medieval Irish English are represented by the poems in the collection to be found in the British Library Harley 913 manuscript . The sixteen English poems are known at the latest since Heuser (1904) as the Kildare Poems. Apart from this there are a few smaller pieces which illustrate Irish English in the pre-early modern period. These are an English version of Expurgatio Hibernica by Giraldus Cambriensis ranging from the first quarter of the 15th to the second half of the 16th century (Hogan 1927: 26f.), an English translation by James Yonge (a Dublin notary of the first half of the 15th century) of Secreta Secretorum, a treatise on moral questions and duties, see Steele . What is called the Book of Howth is a 16th century compilation containing several pieces in English. In addition to these there are a few literary pieces in Anglo-Norman (Risk 1971: 589), notably The Song of Dermot and the Earl and The Entrenchment of New Ross (Shields 1975-6). The former piece is about the relationship between Dermot MacMurrough and Strongbow and the second deals with the building of a fortification for the medieval town of New Ross in the south east of the country, see the annotated excerpts of these works by Terence Dolan in Deane (ed.) (1991: 141-51).