Consolation in Medieval Narrative

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 1-7

3. For the Time Being: Interpretive Consolation in Augustinian Time

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 9-33

4. “Quanto Minorem Consider as”: Abelard’s Proportional Consolation

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 35-57

5. Three Figures of the Church: Piers Plowman and the Quest for Consolation

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 59-83

6. Augustine and Arthur: The Stanzaic Morte and the Consolation of Elegy

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 85-105

7. Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale: Consolations at War

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 107-127

8. The Tower and the Turks: More’s Meditative Consolation

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 129-151

9. Conclusion

   • Chad D. Schrock

   Pages 153-155

10. Back Matter

    Pages 157-240

    PDF

Medieval writers such as Chaucer, Abelard, and Langland often overlaid personal story and sacred history to produce a distinct narrative form. The first of its kind, this study traces this widely used narrative tradition to Augustine's two great histories: Confessions and City of God .

• history
• history of literature
• Medieval Literature

"Schrock demonstrates how Augustine's understanding of time and approach to Scriptural interpretation opened up a profoundly creative space for human self-reflection in the Middle Ages. Combining criticism, philosophy, theology, and history in a dazzling piece of scholarship, Schrock's book functions as a moving piece of consolatory literature in its own right. A very important book by an outstanding scholar." -Ephraim Radner, Professor of Historical Theology, Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto, Canada and author of Hope among the Fragments: The Broken Church and its Engagements of Scripture

"Consolation in Medieval Narrative offers illuminating readings of some canonical medieval texts, usefully re-animating what had seemed like settled discussions about the 'Augustinianism' of late medieval literature. Schrock recovers an Augustinian version of consolation that is simultaneously formal and ethical, often counter-intuitive, and hermeneutically rich. This book has a great deal to say about medieval aesthetics and ethics, narrative form, and the legacy of Augustine's writings." Jessica Rosenfeld, Associate Professor of English, Washington University in St. Louis, USA and author of Ethics and Enjoyment in Late Medieval Poetry: Love after Aristotle

"Consolation in Medieval Narrative is a timely about-face to serious engagement with the woefully under-explored Augustinian brand of consolation - off against the prevailing attention to philosophical (Boethian) consolation that seeks to transcend with vicissitudes of space and time through a linear intellectual ascent. With enviable grace and precision, Schrock reveals a persistent medieval fascination with consolatory forms that resist narrative closure. The result is a learned study that will be essential reading for anyone interested in medieval engagements with classical literature, philosophy, or theology." - Michael Van Dussen, Assistant Professor of English, McGill University, Canada and author of From England to Bohemia: Heresy and Communication in the Later Middle Ages

Chad D. Schrock is Assistant Professor of English at Lee University, USA.

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