"This detailed, practically encyclopedic, study of Dunbar's complete poetry supersedes previous book-length studies....A crucial reference for any future study of Dunbar."--Choice
"Dunbar the Makar should become a much-consulted resource for anyone doing work on Dunbar or Middle Scots literature in general....In collecting between two covers so much of what is now known about Dunbar and his poems, Dunbar the Makar is indispensable, and Bawcutt's consistently sensible and thoroughly informed readings are always valuable....impressive in the breadth and force of its scholarship."--Studies in the Age of Chaucer
"Dunbar the Maker should stimulate research into the literature of late-medieval Scotland and enliven debate over this facinating poet."--Speculum
"Bawcutt's book should...mark a turning point in our understanding of Middle Scots literature and the place of that writing within the wider British and even European context....Students of Dunbar, Middle Scots, and medieval literature in general owe Pricella Bawcutt an enormous debt for this fine book."--Envoi
Product Description
William Dunbar is a poet whose virtuosity is often praised, but rarely analyzed. This first major study of his work to be published in over ten years examines his view of himself as a major poet, or "makar," and the way he handles various poetic genres. It challenges the over-simplified and reductive views purveyed by some critics, that Dunbar is primarily a moralist or no more than a talented virtuoso. New emphasis is placed on the petitions, or begging-poems, and their use for poetic introspection. There is also a particularly full study of Dunbar's under-valued comic poems, and of the modes most congenial to him--notably parody, irony, "flyting" or invective, and black dream-fantasy. Taking account of recent scholarship, Priscilla Bawcutt explores the complex literary traditions available to Dunbar, both in Latin and the vernaculars, including "popular" and alliterative poetry as well as that of Chaucer and his followers. This original, learned, and critically searching book is set to become the leading analysis of one of the most fascinating and accomplished of medieval poets.
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