The Manifold Singularity of Pearl
I argue that the Middle English Pearl, which survives in just one manuscript, gains literary value from this material uniqueness. By blurring the distinction between scribe and author, this single-manuscript text invites unexpected modes of literary analysis. Physical singularity thus creates wide-r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Johns Hopkins University Press
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101715 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3255-051X |
| _version_ | 1811078465830518784 |
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| author | Bahr, Arthur W. |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Humanities. Literature Section |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Humanities. Literature Section Bahr, Arthur W. |
| author_sort | Bahr, Arthur W. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | I argue that the Middle English Pearl, which survives in just one manuscript, gains literary value from this material uniqueness. By blurring the distinction between scribe and author, this single-manuscript text invites unexpected modes of literary analysis. Physical singularity thus creates wide-ranging, enduring, and in that sense “manifold” interpretive potential. My argument proceeds in three parts. First, I demonstrate that the tension between uniqueness and multiplicity underwrites the poem’s narrative drama and complex lexicon of value; my subsequent investigations are therefore grounded in the concerns of the text itself. I then present close readings of three irregularities in the poem’s highly wrought form. Because we have no other manuscripts to use for comparison, we cannot conclusively designate these irregularities as either scribal error or authorial innovation; this uncertainty creates uncanny resemblances between Dreamer and reader, Pearl-Maiden and Pearl-manuscript. Finally, I analyze modern editorial manipulation of a single contested letter in the manuscript, arguing that Pearl’s physical uniqueness makes this instance of the literal playful, elusive, and metaphorical. These readings show how interpretive energy can emerge from unknowable historical contingency; this most self-consciously belletristic and beautiful poem thus brilliantly undermines an essentialist understanding of the literary. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:59:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/101715 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:59:43Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Johns Hopkins University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1017152022-10-01T00:29:27Z The Manifold Singularity of Pearl Bahr, Arthur W. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Humanities. Literature Section Massachusetts Institute of Technology. School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Bahr, Arthur W. I argue that the Middle English Pearl, which survives in just one manuscript, gains literary value from this material uniqueness. By blurring the distinction between scribe and author, this single-manuscript text invites unexpected modes of literary analysis. Physical singularity thus creates wide-ranging, enduring, and in that sense “manifold” interpretive potential. My argument proceeds in three parts. First, I demonstrate that the tension between uniqueness and multiplicity underwrites the poem’s narrative drama and complex lexicon of value; my subsequent investigations are therefore grounded in the concerns of the text itself. I then present close readings of three irregularities in the poem’s highly wrought form. Because we have no other manuscripts to use for comparison, we cannot conclusively designate these irregularities as either scribal error or authorial innovation; this uncertainty creates uncanny resemblances between Dreamer and reader, Pearl-Maiden and Pearl-manuscript. Finally, I analyze modern editorial manipulation of a single contested letter in the manuscript, arguing that Pearl’s physical uniqueness makes this instance of the literal playful, elusive, and metaphorical. These readings show how interpretive energy can emerge from unknowable historical contingency; this most self-consciously belletristic and beautiful poem thus brilliantly undermines an essentialist understanding of the literary. 2016-03-16T15:37:17Z 2016-03-16T15:37:17Z 2015 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0013-8304 1080-6547 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101715 Bahr, Arthur. "The Manifold Singularity of Pearl." ELH 82.3 (Fall 2015): 729-758. © 2015 The Johns Hopkins University Press https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3255-051X en_US https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/elh/v082/82.3.bahr.html ELH Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Johns Hopkins University Press English Literary History |
| spellingShingle | Bahr, Arthur W. The Manifold Singularity of Pearl |
| title | The Manifold Singularity of Pearl |
| title_full | The Manifold Singularity of Pearl |
| title_fullStr | The Manifold Singularity of Pearl |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Manifold Singularity of Pearl |
| title_short | The Manifold Singularity of Pearl |
| title_sort | manifold singularity of pearl |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101715 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3255-051X |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bahrarthurw themanifoldsingularityofpearl AT bahrarthurw manifoldsingularityofpearl |