"An Unfollowable World": Beowulf, English Poetry, and the Phenomenalism of Language. Issue 7 (4th July 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Christie, E. J.
• Is Part Of: Literature compass. Volume 10:Issue 7(2013)
• Page Start: 519
• Page End: 534
• Publication Date: 2013-07-04
• Subjects: English literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; American literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Littérature -- Périodiques; Arts and Humanities -- Literature; Electronic reference sources; 805
• DOI: 10.1111/lic3.12070
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1741-4113

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>This essay traces a history of <italic>Beowulf</italic> criticism, specifically focusing on the cultural value and literary merit that are always to some extent opposed in describing the poem's worth. It investigates assumptions about the relationships between language, poetry, and culture that informed, and sometimes continue to inform, <italic>Beowulf</italic> criticism. On the one hand, <italic>Beowulf</italic> is taken to represent an essential Englishness, while on the other hand it is linguistically alien to modern speakers. <italic>Beowulf</italic> thus forms an ideal litmus test for foundational questions such as "what makes language literary?" and "what makes a poem an English poem?" Although <italic>Beowulf</italic> is often represented as an outlier, a poem which we must learn to understand in its own terms, this survey demonstrates that <italic>Beowulf</italic> criticism reflects predictable trends in the evolution of thought about the relationship between language, literature, and culture.</p> </abstract>