Customer Reviews

Middle English Marian Lyrics (TEAMS Middle English Texts)

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Oh, Philip, "That is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all." This is a collection of Middle English lyric poetry about Mary, mother of Jesus. It includes detailed introductory material and notes. Nothing about Gilligan, sorry. But if you want to explore medieval Christians' understanding of Mary's place and character, please have a look.
Here's what I wrote for the publisher's catalogue: "The mother of Jesus was a beloved, central figure in the hearts and minds of medieval Christians. Non-judgmental, gracious, and kind, she served as an ever-available mediator and model for believers who sought to reconcile guilt and hope. The poems selected for this volume provide a sampling of the rich tradition of Marian devotion as expressed in Middle English. Some of these lyrics survived in commonplace books, on flyleaves, or as incidental pieces in longer works; other appeared in liturgical manuscripts, hymnals, or sermon notebooks. They range widely in form, tone, and aesthetic quality. Taken together, they express the full range of a people's effort to voice its anxieties and joys through Mary."
Though it's not particularly helpful on the subject of television, I believe the book will be useful to those interested in literature, history, theology, women's studies, and language.
(Phil Christman, by the way, has written cogent, wise, and useful reviews for Paste Magazine and for Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought. Seriously.)

Both a valuable collection of medieval Marian lyrics and a scorching commentary on the effects of mass culture on a plague-devastated populace, this collection of Middle English lyrics devoted to the popular "Gilligan's Island" character is an essential tool in our understanding of the chord struck among Medieval Europeans -- themselves moored in a sort of existential Gilligan's Island, all classes shipwrecked together by the growth of the bourgeiosie and the isolation wrought by the Black Plague (a la Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, notice) with only each other and what cold comforts could be salvaged from the era's rudimentary technology for company -- by this popular narrative. Professor Saupe's next work, a study of (de)constructive and (fe)menist-h(e)rmeneutica(l) (like dancin') techniques in the era's miracle and "Party of Five" plays, promises to shock, provoke and entertain as well.