{"product_id":"strategies-of-the-silent-in-medieval-english-literature-paperback","title":"Strategies of the Silent in Medieval English Literature - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eEdwin D. Craun\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSilence, like speech, is a mode of communication that can be used strategically. In \u003ci\u003eStrategies of the Silent in Medieval English Literature\u003c\/i\u003e, Edwin D. Craun investigates the silences in public life that punctuate talk in late Middle English literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCentering his study on readings of canonical texts, including the works of Thomas Hoccleve, the anonymous \u003ci\u003eMum and the Sothsegger\u003c\/i\u003e, William Langland's \u003ci\u003ePiers Plowman\u003c\/i\u003e, John Lydgate's translation of Guillaume de Deguileville's \u003ci\u003ePelerinage de vie humaine\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Testimony of William Thorpe\u003c\/i\u003e, a selection of the York cycle of passion plays, and \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Margery Kempes\u003c\/i\u003e, Craun recovers the widespread moral discourse on silence developed by late medieval secular and clerical writers, who compiled materials from Roman popular morality and Stoic texts as well as Jewish wisdom books and Christian texts. These texts model how silence could play a role in effective government, respond to violent and angry antagonists, or in some cases to entirely obviate a good outcome. Through this nuanced exploration of the ethics of communication in medieval moral, narrative, and dramatic literature, Craun shows us that public silences, then as now, have strategies and consequences, dimensions that medieval imaginative writers explore subtly yet analytically in order to provoke ethical reflection and pragmatic action. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eStrategies of the Silent in Medieval English Literature\u003c\/i\u003e offers original thematical and rhetorical insights into the written history of silence. It will appeal to scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates interested in Middle English literature, history, and political thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eEdwin D. Craun \u003c\/strong\u003eis Professor Emeritus of English at Washington and Lee University. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eEthics and Power in Medieval English Reformist Writing \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eLies, Slander, and Obscenity in Medieval English Literature: Pastoral Rhetoric and the Deviant Speaker \u003c\/i\u003eand editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Hands of the Tongue: Essays on Deviant Speech\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 210\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.48 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 19, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45519838642278,"sku":"9780271099941","price":72.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0599\/7255\/0758\/files\/N11CjIlgDL9780271099941.webp?v=1776448233","url":"https:\/\/infinitylightwa.com\/products\/strategies-of-the-silent-in-medieval-english-literature-paperback","provider":"Infinity Light","version":"1.0","type":"link"}