Journal article
The Apocalyptic Aesthetics of the List: Form and Political Economy in Wynnere and Wastoure
The Journal of medieval and early modern studies, Vol.52(1), pp.119-145
01/2022
DOI: 10.1215/10829636-9478510
Abstract
Lists can suggest both a complete written account and the open-ended accumulation of terms. In this, their frequent appearance in apocalyptic texts formally mirrors apocalypticism's combination of divinely created order and the chaotic description of catastrophic events. Medieval and early modern poetic prophecies often list local manifestations of disorder and exclude the cosmic frame of divine order, making poems like
, which draws heavily on the tradition of poetic prophecy, seem not particularly apocalyptic. But the list-like passages in
join its focus on economics to the implicit apocalypticism of its prophetic passages. The sense that lists can appear as both an ordered account and a disordered accumulation allows the lists of
to suggest the comforting bounds of an apocalyptic framework while performing its dissolution by a vision of political economy based on endless cycles of winning and wasting.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Apocalyptic Aesthetics of the List: Form and Political Economy in Wynnere and Wastoure
- Creators
- William Rhodes - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of medieval and early modern studies, Vol.52(1), pp.119-145
- Publisher
- Duke University Press
- DOI
- 10.1215/10829636-9478510
- ISSN
- 1082-9636
- eISSN
- 1527-8263
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2022
- Academic Unit
- English
- Record Identifier
- 9984398059502771
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