Bestsellers and masterpieces: The changing medieval canon

Bestsellers And Masterpieces Investigates The Strange Fact That Many Of The Texts We Now Study And Teach As The Most Canonical Representations Of European And Middle Eastern Medieval Writing Were, In Fact, Not Popular - Or Even Read At All - In Their Day. On The Other Hand, Those Texts That Were Popular, As Evidenced By The Extant Manuscript Record, Are Taught And Studied With Far Less Frequency. The Most Dramatic Demonstration Of This Disparity Can Be Found In The Surprising Number Of Medieval Texts Now Regarded As 'masterpieces' That Have Survived In Just One Single Copy, In A Unicum Manuscript. On The European Side This List Included Beowulf, El Poema De Mio Cid And Others; Similarly Canonical Arabo-mediterranean Examples Include Ibn Hazm's Tawq Al-hamama (the Neck-ring Of The Dove) And Usama Ibn Munqidh's Kitab Al I'tibar (memoirs Of Usama Ibn Mundqidh). While Respecting The Complicated History Of Each, Contributors Explore The Processes That Have Contributed To The Rise Or Eclipse Of These Canonical Or Neglected Texts. Bestsellers And Masterpieces Provides Cross-cultural Insight Into Both The Literary Tastes Of The Medieval Period And The Cultural And Political Forces Behind The Creation Of The 'modern Canon' Of Medieval Literature. Machine Generated Contents Note: Pt. I Hanging By A Thread: Unique Manuscripts And Their Place In The `modern' Medieval Canon -- 1. Contemplating Books With Usama Ibn Munqidh's Book Of Contemplation / Paul M. Cobb -- 2. Dons And Dragons: Beowulf And `popular Reading' / Erica Weaver -- 3. Ibn Hazm's Tawq Al-hamama (the Neck-ring Of The Dove) / Boris Liebrenz -- 4. `thirty Pieces Of Silver': Interpreting Anti-jewish Imagery In The Poema De Mio Cid Manuscript / Ryan D. Giles -- 5. `let No Bad Song Be Sung Of Us': Fame, Memory And Transmission In/and The Chanson De Roland / Sharon Kinoshita -- Pt. Ii Medieval Bestsellers: Reading The `medieval Canon'? -- 6. World Literature And Its Discontents: Reading The Life Of Ahiqar / Daniel L. Selden -- 7. The Alexander Romance In The Age Of Scribal Reproduction: The Aesthetics And Precariousness Of A Popular Text / Shamma Boyarin -- 8. Wisdom Literature And Medieval Bestsellers / Karla Mallette -- 9. Lost Worlds: Encyclopaedism And Riddles In The Tale Of Tawaddud/theodor / Christine Chism. Edited By Heather Blurton And Dwight F. Reynolds. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.