Tropologies

Ethics and Invention in England, c.1350-1600

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Medieval
Cover of the book Tropologies by Ryan McDermott, University of Notre Dame Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Ryan McDermott ISBN: 9780268087098
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: University of Notre Dame Press Language: English
Author: Ryan McDermott
ISBN: 9780268087098
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
Publication: April 15, 2016
Imprint: University of Notre Dame Press
Language: English

Tropologies is the first book-length study to elaborate the medieval and early modern theory of the tropological, or moral, sense of scripture. Ryan McDermott argues that tropology is not only a way to interpret the Bible but also a theory of literary and ethical invention. The “tropological imperative” demands that words be turned into works—books as well as deeds. Beginning with Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great, then treating monuments of exegesis such as the Glossa ordinaria and Nicholas of Lyra, as well as theorists including Thomas Aquinas, Erasmus, Martin Luther, and others, Tropologies reveals the unwritten history of a major hermeneutical theory and inventive practice. Late medieval and early Reformation writers adapted tropological theory to invent new biblical poetry and drama that would invite readers to participate in salvation history by inventing their own new works. Tropologies reinterprets a wide range of medieval and early modern texts and performances—including the Patience-Poet, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, the York and Coventry cycle plays, and the literary circles of the reformist King Edward VI—to argue that “tropological invention” provided a robust alternative to rhetorical theories of literary production. In this groundbreaking revision of literary history, the Bible and biblical hermeneutics, commonly understood as sources of tumultuous discord, turn out to provide principles of continuity and mutuality across the Reformation’s temporal and confessional rifts. Each chapter pursues an argument about poetic and dramatic form, linking questions of style and aesthetics to exegetical theory and theology. Because Tropologies attends to the flux of exegetical theory and practice across a watershed period of intellectual history, it is able to register subtle shifts in literary production, fine-tuning our sense of how literature and religion mutually and dynamically informed and reformed each other.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Tropologies is the first book-length study to elaborate the medieval and early modern theory of the tropological, or moral, sense of scripture. Ryan McDermott argues that tropology is not only a way to interpret the Bible but also a theory of literary and ethical invention. The “tropological imperative” demands that words be turned into works—books as well as deeds. Beginning with Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great, then treating monuments of exegesis such as the Glossa ordinaria and Nicholas of Lyra, as well as theorists including Thomas Aquinas, Erasmus, Martin Luther, and others, Tropologies reveals the unwritten history of a major hermeneutical theory and inventive practice. Late medieval and early Reformation writers adapted tropological theory to invent new biblical poetry and drama that would invite readers to participate in salvation history by inventing their own new works. Tropologies reinterprets a wide range of medieval and early modern texts and performances—including the Patience-Poet, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, the York and Coventry cycle plays, and the literary circles of the reformist King Edward VI—to argue that “tropological invention” provided a robust alternative to rhetorical theories of literary production. In this groundbreaking revision of literary history, the Bible and biblical hermeneutics, commonly understood as sources of tumultuous discord, turn out to provide principles of continuity and mutuality across the Reformation’s temporal and confessional rifts. Each chapter pursues an argument about poetic and dramatic form, linking questions of style and aesthetics to exegetical theory and theology. Because Tropologies attends to the flux of exegetical theory and practice across a watershed period of intellectual history, it is able to register subtle shifts in literary production, fine-tuning our sense of how literature and religion mutually and dynamically informed and reformed each other.

More books from University of Notre Dame Press

Cover of the book Thomist Realism and the Linguistic Turn by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book René Girard and Secular Modernity by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book René Girard and the Nonviolent God by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Newton on Matter and Activity by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book The Coming of the Celts, AD 1862 by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Gringo Justice by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book St. Patrick's Day by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book A History of Medieval Philosophy by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Confessing History by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Treatise on Happiness by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Praying the Psalms in Christ by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Visions of Sainthood in Medieval Rome by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book The Ethical Demand by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Idea of a University, The by Ryan McDermott
Cover of the book Explorations in Metaphysics by Ryan McDermott
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy