Finding the Right Words : : Isidore's ‹em›Synonyma‹/em› in Anglo-Saxon England / / Claudia Di Sciacca.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter UTP eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2015
• VerfasserIn: Di Sciacca, Claudia,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©2008
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Isidore of Seville (circa 570-636) was the author of the Etymologiae,. the most celebrated and widely circulated encyclopaedia of the western Middle Ages. In addition, Isidore's Synonyma were very successful and became one of the classics of medieval spirituality. Indeed, it was the Synonyma that were to define the so-called 'Isidorian style,' a rhymed, rhythmic prose that proved influential throughout the Middle Ages.Finding the Right Words is the first book-length study to deal with the transmission and reception of works by Isidore of Seville in Anglo-Saxon England, with a particular focus on the Synonyma. Beginning with a general survey of Isidore's life and activity as a bishop in early seventh-century Visigothic Spain, Claudia Di Sciacca offers a comprehensive introduction to the Synonyma, drawing special attention to their distinctive style. She goes on to discuss the transmission of the text to early medieval England and its 'vernacularisation,' that is, its translations and adaptations in Old English prose and verse. The case for the particular receptiveness of the Synonyma in Anglo-Saxon England is strongly supported by both a close reading of primary sources and an extensive selection of secondary literature. This rigorous, well-documented volume demonstrates the significance of the Synonyma to our understanding of the literary pretensions and pedagogical practices of Anglo-Saxon England, and offers new insights into the interaction of Latin and vernacular within its literary culture.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- 1. Isidore of Seville: His Life and Culture -- 2. The Synonyma: Their Structure, Style, and Sources -- 3. Isidore and the Synonyma in the British Isles -- 4. The Vernacularization of the Synonyma: The Case of Vercelli xxii -- 5. The Vernacularization of the Synonyma: The ubi sunt Topos -- 6. The Synonyma in Anglo-Latin Literature -- 7. The Synonyma in Anglo-Saxon England: Some Conclusions -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index of Manuscripts -- Index of Passages Cited and Discussed -- General Index -- Backmatter