Humanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560
This study reveals the underappreciated extent to which early Tudor literature was influenced by the Quattrocento rebirth of Greek scholarship. Combining close reading with source study, it shows how English translations from Greek change our perception of the diffuse character of Tudor humanism. Re...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1797109855291441152 |
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| author | Colley, J |
| author_facet | Colley, J |
| author_sort | Colley, J |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This study reveals the underappreciated extent to which early Tudor literature was influenced by the Quattrocento rebirth of Greek scholarship. Combining close reading with source study, it shows how English translations from Greek change our perception of the diffuse character of Tudor humanism. Rehabilitating many understudied translations – some of which exist only in manuscript, lack modern editions, and have received scant attention – this thesis also calls for a radically more diverse view of the classical tradition and its evolution in early Tudor England. Developing previous scholarship that has focused on secular pagan literature, it focuses on translations of both ‘classical’ and early Christian Greek.
There are six chapters. Chapter 1 sketches the background of Greek translation c.1400–80 through a case study of Lydgate’s works. Chapter 2 focuses on Skelton’s translation of Diodorus Siculus’ Bibliotheke, placing this work in new intellectual and political contexts in late fifteenth-century England. Chapter 3, picking up a theme that emerges from Skelton’s work, demonstrates how attentiveness to Greek translation in More’s Utopia highlights the mediation of Greek literature through Roman intermediaries. Chapter 4 surveys verse translations from Homer by Elyot, Ascham, and Udall and establishes the significance of these translations to the development of vernacular poetics. Chapter 5 argues that Berthelet’s marketing strategies for translations from Greek shed new light on the shape of the classical tradition in Henrician England. Chapter 6 examines translations of early Christian Greek works in Edwardian and Marian England, scrutinizing the relationship between humanism and confessionalization.
The Conclusion summarizes how attention to Greek calls for new ways of thinking about early Tudor translation and humanism: it underscores the value of a model for classical reception that unifies the study of Christian and pagan sources, and which more readily considers more diffuse and less ostensibly classical vectors of reception. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:45:39Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:8d05b670-f594-4c36-9e42-7cc6c8d3ca8b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:45:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:8d05b670-f594-4c36-9e42-7cc6c8d3ca8b2023-06-08T14:23:29ZHumanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560Thesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:8d05b670-f594-4c36-9e42-7cc6c8d3ca8bEnglish literatureEnglishHyrax Deposit2023Colley, JThis study reveals the underappreciated extent to which early Tudor literature was influenced by the Quattrocento rebirth of Greek scholarship. Combining close reading with source study, it shows how English translations from Greek change our perception of the diffuse character of Tudor humanism. Rehabilitating many understudied translations – some of which exist only in manuscript, lack modern editions, and have received scant attention – this thesis also calls for a radically more diverse view of the classical tradition and its evolution in early Tudor England. Developing previous scholarship that has focused on secular pagan literature, it focuses on translations of both ‘classical’ and early Christian Greek. There are six chapters. Chapter 1 sketches the background of Greek translation c.1400–80 through a case study of Lydgate’s works. Chapter 2 focuses on Skelton’s translation of Diodorus Siculus’ Bibliotheke, placing this work in new intellectual and political contexts in late fifteenth-century England. Chapter 3, picking up a theme that emerges from Skelton’s work, demonstrates how attentiveness to Greek translation in More’s Utopia highlights the mediation of Greek literature through Roman intermediaries. Chapter 4 surveys verse translations from Homer by Elyot, Ascham, and Udall and establishes the significance of these translations to the development of vernacular poetics. Chapter 5 argues that Berthelet’s marketing strategies for translations from Greek shed new light on the shape of the classical tradition in Henrician England. Chapter 6 examines translations of early Christian Greek works in Edwardian and Marian England, scrutinizing the relationship between humanism and confessionalization. The Conclusion summarizes how attention to Greek calls for new ways of thinking about early Tudor translation and humanism: it underscores the value of a model for classical reception that unifies the study of Christian and pagan sources, and which more readily considers more diffuse and less ostensibly classical vectors of reception. |
| spellingShingle | English literature Colley, J Humanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560 |
| title | Humanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560 |
| title_full | Humanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560 |
| title_fullStr | Humanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Humanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560 |
| title_short | Humanism, English Literature, and the Translation of Greek, c.1480–1560 |
| title_sort | humanism english literature and the translation of greek c 1480 1560 |
| topic | English literature |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT colleyj humanismenglishliteratureandthetranslationofgreekc14801560 |