Rise of Prison Literature in the Sixteenth Century

Examining works by some of the most famous prisoners from the early modern period including Thomas More, Lady Jane Grey and Thomas Wyatt, Ruth Ahnert presents the first major study of prison literature dating from this era. She argues that the English Reformation established the prison as an influential literary sphere. In the previous centuries we find only isolated examples of prison writings, but the religious and political instability of the Tudor reigns provided the conditions for the practice to thrive. This book shows the wide variety of genres that prisoners wrote, and it explores the subtle tricks they employed in order to appropriate the site of the prison for their own agendas. Ahnert charts the spreading influence of such works beyond the prison cell, tracing the textual communities they constructed, and the ways in which writings were smuggled out of prison and then disseminated through script and print.

Table des matières

Introduction; 1. The sixteenth-century prison; 2. Writing the prison; 3. Prison communities; 4. 'Frendes abrode'; 5. Liberating the text?; Afterword; Bibliography.

A propos de l'auteur

Ruth Ahnert is a Lecturer in Early Modern Studies in the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London. Her work focuses on the literature and culture of the Tudor period, with a specific emphasis on religious history, prison writing and letter writing. Recent and forthcoming publications examine prison scenes in early modern drama, trial narratives and Protestant letter networks. Dr Ahnert serves on the Council of the Society for Renaissance Studies and is co-editor of the Society's Bulletin.

Résumé

The first major study of prison literature dating from the early modern period, this book shows how the religious and political instability of the Tudor reigns provided conditions for prison literature to thrive. Ahnert demonstrates how prisoners used the power of the written word to make meaning from their experience.

Détails du produit

• Auteurs: Ruth Ahnert, Ruth (Queen Mary University of London) Ahnert, Ahnert Ruth
• Edition: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Langues: Anglais
• Format d'édition: Livre de poche
• Sortie: 31.12.2018
• EAN: 9781108438797
• ISBN: 978-1-108-43879-7
• Pages: 232
• Catégories: Littérature > Poésie, théâtre; Sciences humaines, art, musique > Linguistique et littérature > Linguistique et littérature anglaises; European History, English, c 1500 onwards to present day, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, 17th century, c 1600 to c 1699, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Penology and punishment, 16th century, c 1500 to c 1599, Literary studies: c 1400 to c 1600