An upcoming symposium hosted by Fordham’s Center for Medieval Studies will attempt to uncover how scholars of the Middle Ages interpreted texts written in the vernacular of the day.
“Textual Interpretation in Medieval Vernaculars”
Saturday, Feb. 25
10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
South Lounge, Lincoln Center Campus
The symposium will explore whether the well-known methods that medieval exegetes used to interpret Latin literature and sacred texts were likewise applied to texts written in Old Norse, Old Irish, Old French, and Middle English, or, if not, whether entirely new frameworks were constructed.
The symposium will also tackle the questions:
• How do such well-known authors as Jean de Meun or Dante fit into this picture?
• Given that authors and scribes were mostly bilingual in Latin and the vernacular, was there room for particular vernacular modes of interpretation, and what are the indications to this effect?
Featuring both national and international scholars, the symposium includes “Homonymy and the Quest for Meaning in Old Norse Literature” and “Law and the Vernacular Revolution: Thinking and Writing Law in French in the Thirteenth Century.”
For more information, email Mikael Males.
