Legal Reform in English Renaissance Literature

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出版者:Edinburgh University Press
作者:Strain, Virginia Lee
出品人:
页数:256
译者:
出版时间:2018-3-31
价格:0
装帧:精装
isbn号码:9781474416290
丛书系列:
图书标签:
  • 法律与文学
  • 文艺复兴文学
  • 法律改革
  • 英国文学
  • 文艺复兴时期
  • 文学与法律
  • 社会历史
  • 文化研究
  • 早期现代
  • 文本分析
  • 政治文学
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具体描述

The first study of legal reform and literature in early modern EnglandThis book investigates rhetorical and representational practices that were used to monitor English law at the turn of the seventeenth century. The late-Elizabethan and early-Jacobean surge in the policies and enforcement of the reformation of manners has been well-documented. What has gone unnoticed, however, is the degree to which the law itself was the focus of reform for legislators, the judiciary, preachers, and writers alike. While the majority of law and literature studies characterize the law as a force of coercion and subjugation, this book instead treats in greater depth the law's own vulnerability, both to corruption and to correction. In readings of Spenser's 'Faerie Queene', the 'Gesta Grayorum', Donne's 'Satyre V', and Shakespeare's 'Measure for Measure' and 'The Winter's Tale', Strain argues that the terms and techniques of legal reform provided modes of analysis through which legal authorities and literary writers alike imagined and evaluated form and character. Key FeaturesReevaluates canonical writers in light of developments in legal historical research, bringing an interdisciplinary perspective to works Collects an extensive variety of legal, political, and literary sources to reconstruct the discourse on early modern legal reform, providing an introduction to a topic that is currently underrepresented in early modern legal cultural studiesAnalyses the laws own vulnerability to individual agency

Renaissance Poetics and the Shaping of Early Modern Identity A Study in Literary Evolution and Cultural Transformation This volume offers a comprehensive examination of the evolving landscape of English Renaissance poetry, tracing its development from the Petrarchan models inherited from the medieval period through to the complex, self-aware lyricism that characterized the Jacobean era. Far from being a static period of imitation, the Renaissance witnessed a dynamic and often fraught negotiation between established classical authority and burgeoning native ingenuity. This study argues that the poetic shifts of the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries are intrinsically linked to profound transformations in how the English conceived of the self, the nature of knowledge, and the very purpose of artistic endeavor. The initial chapters focus on the foundational influence of Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella. We move beyond standard readings of Petrarchan conceit to analyze how Sidney meticulously constructs a persona whose very articulation of desire reveals an emerging modern subjectivity—one characterized by irony, epistemological doubt, and a sophisticated self-consciousness regarding the act of writing itself. This is not merely a sequence about unrequited love; it is a critical interrogation of the limits of courtly language when confronted with intense, personalized emotion. The tension between the poet’s public role and private feeling becomes a central thematic concern, setting the stage for subsequent poetic explorations. The analysis then pivots to the complex relationship between imitation and innovation, focusing particularly on the figure of Edmund Spenser. Spenser is treated not simply as an admirer of Virgil and Chaucer, but as a deliberate synthesizer whose ambition was to forge a distinctly English epic tradition capable of rivaling those of antiquity. We delve deeply into The Faerie Queene, dissecting its allegorical structure not just as a moral roadmap, but as a political and theological argument. The sheer scale of Spenser’s project necessitates a deep dive into his creation of archaic diction and convoluted syntax—techniques employed not for quaintness, but to elevate the vernacular to a level traditionally reserved for Latin and Greek, thereby asserting England's cultural parity with older civilizations. The challenges inherent in sustaining such an immense, heavily moralized narrative are explored, charting how the very density of his allegory becomes both his greatest strength and a source of significant critical difficulty for later readers. A significant portion of the book is dedicated to the poetry of John Donne and the metaphysical school, viewing their intellectual gymnastics as a direct response to the religious and scientific turbulence of the late Elizabethan and early Stuart periods. Donne’s genius lies in his ability to domesticate grand philosophical questions within the intimate space of the love poem or the religious meditation. We examine the function of the ‘conceit’—the elaborate, often startling metaphor—as a mode of intellectual persuasion. Rather than viewing these as mere displays of wit, this study posits the conceit as a necessary tool for mapping a newly complex cosmos where fixed hierarchical certainties were dissolving. His Holy Sonnets, for instance, reveal a speaker wrestling not with easy faith, but with the terrifying possibility of divine absence, forcing the reader into an uncomfortable proximity with spiritual crisis. The exploration extends to the development of the solitary lyric and the patronage system. How did poets navigate the shift from serving a grand, unifying courtly vision to addressing a smaller, more discerning readership? The professionalization of authorship, however nascent, created new anxieties concerning authenticity and commercial viability. We analyze the impact of printed miscellanies and the circulation of manuscript culture, demonstrating how these varied modes of distribution shaped the form and content of poems intended for specific, often private, audiences. The inherent tension between the desire for lasting fame (monumentality) and the ephemeral nature of the manuscript exchange (intimacy) forms a crucial sub-theme here. Furthermore, the book incorporates a comparative analysis of the presentation of gender and sexuality within the poetry. While acknowledging the overwhelming patriarchal structures of the age, we investigate the moments where female voices, either direct or imagined, challenge or subvert established conventions. The evolution of the sonnet sequence from Astrophil’s dominance to the more collaborative or adversarial dynamics found in later sequences is mapped as a subtle indicator of shifting societal perceptions regarding female agency and intellectual parity. Finally, the study concludes by examining the late Renaissance turn toward satire and the emergence of the distinctly public, critical poetic voice exemplified by figures such as Marston and Hall. This shift signals a dissatisfaction with the loftier ambitions of Spenserian epic and the personal intensity of Donne’s introspection. Satire becomes a means of imposing order—often brutally—upon a world perceived as degenerating, reflecting a widespread cultural anxiety about court corruption and social fragmentation. By charting this trajectory—from courtly aspiration to spiritual crisis to social critique—this volume illustrates that Renaissance poetry was never merely decorative; it was the essential laboratory where the emerging modern English self was rigorously tested, defined, and expressed. The result is a nuanced understanding of how literary innovation served as a vital engine for cultural self-fashioning during one of England’s most transformative eras.

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这部书的标题听起来就让人感到一丝庄严与厚重,仿佛一下子被拉回了那个充满变革与思想激荡的伊丽莎白时代。我本以为会看到的是对都铎王朝法律体系具体条文的细致梳理,或者是关于衡平法院与普通法之间权力拉锯的学术探讨。然而,我拿到的却是另一番景象。作者似乎对那些冰冷的法条不感兴趣,而是将笔触聚焦在了文学作品本身,试图在莎士比亚、斯宾塞等人的文本中,挖掘出“法律改革”这个宏大主题如何潜移默化地影响了当时的社会意识与叙事结构。这种跨学科的结合方式,初看之下,简直让人摸不着头脑。我期待的是对《英格兰法典》的注解,结果却读到了一系列关于文学人物道德困境的分析,着实出乎意料。这种阅读体验就像是走进了一座布满了精致雕花的图书馆,却发现所有书架上摆的都不是你预想中的法学专著,而是充满了隐喻和象征的诗篇与戏剧。它迫使我重新审视文学与社会结构之间的关系,而不是简单地将文学视为历史的被动记录者。

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我对本书的期待是,它能提供一个清晰的脉络,说明在十六、十七世纪的英国社会转型期,哪些具体的法律修正案或司法实践的革新,直接催生了文学中新的主题和人物类型。我期待看到具体的案例分析,比如关于财产继承法改革如何影响了家族剧中的冲突,或者对宗教裁判所权力削弱如何为喜剧提供了新的讽刺空间。但这本书似乎更热衷于在词源学和符号学层面打转。它花费了大量的篇幅去分析“契约”(Covenant)这个词在不同文本中的微妙含义变化,并将其与当时新出现的商业实践联系起来,这固然有其独到之处,但对于一个渴望了解实际法律变迁的读者来说,未免显得过于抽象和间接。全书弥漫着一种高度理论化的氛围,仿佛作者是在用文学的棱镜折射法律的影子,而非直接解剖法律本身是如何运作和演变的。这种“间接性”使得具体的历史事件被稀释在了大量的文本解读之中。

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说实话,这本书的语言风格极其华丽且晦涩,充满了学术圈内人士才能理解的典故和术语。我本以为会看到对1534年《至尊法案》对教会法影响的清晰阐述,或者对1588年西班牙无敌舰队失败后,英国国家安全法制建设的讨论。但该书完全避开了这些具有明确历史时间节点和制度焦点的议题。取而代之的是,作者沉浸在对一些不甚知名的十四行诗集和道德剧的深度挖掘中,用极其复杂的句子结构来阐述一些关于“个体权利”的萌芽如何被嵌入到对命运女神的哀叹之中。这种对细枝末节的过度关注,使得宏大的“法律改革”议题被分解得支离破碎,难以形成一个有力的整体印象。读完之后,我最大的感受是,作者似乎在用文学的无限可能性来模糊历史的确定性,这与我期待中那种清晰、结构化的法律史分析大相径庭。

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阅读这本书的过程中,我一直试图寻找那些关于“改革”的明确行动或立法努力的痕迹。我期待能读到关于伊丽莎白一世时期司法系统试图解决司法腐败或程序冗余的尝试,或者詹姆斯一世时代对一些中世纪遗留法律的清理工作。然而,书中几乎没有提及任何明确的立法草案、议会辩论或是高级法院的里程碑式判决。它给我的印象是,所谓的“法律改革”,并非指自上而下的制度重构,而更像是一种在文化肌理中缓慢渗透、自我修正的“潜在意识”的流动。作者似乎认为,真正的变革发生于人们的思维模式中,通过文学作品对不公现象的揭示与嘲讽,潜移默化地改变了公众对现有法律秩序的接受度。这使得本书的论点显得有些飘忽,缺乏坚实的制度基础支撑,更像是一部关于“时代精神”如何通过艺术表达法律焦虑的随笔集,而非严谨的学术专著。

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当我翻开这本书的扉页时,脑海中浮现的是对文艺复兴时期法律史学派的经典论述,那些关于普通法(Common Law)如何逐渐确立其民族特性的宏大叙事。我原本准备好了迎接一场关于“王权法治”(Rule of Law)在英国早期现代的艰难诞生的深度剖析。然而,此书的叙事路径完全偏离了我的预设轨道。它没有深入探讨《大宪章》的后续影响,也没有详细比较康斯坦布尔(Constable)与治安官(Justice of the Peace)职能的演变。相反,它似乎沉迷于描绘那些文学作品中角色对于“正义”的模糊感知,以及他们如何在不完善的司法框架下寻求个人的救赎或复仇。这种对“感觉”和“感知”的侧重,而不是对“制度”和“程序”的关注,让我感到一种微妙的失落,仿佛在期待一堂严谨的宪法课,结果却被拉去听了一场关于人性挣扎的哲学讲座。书中的论证逻辑时常跳跃,从一个诗歌典故瞬间跳转到对某种社会习俗的批判,缺乏那种传统史学著作的线性推进感,读起来需要极大的精神投入去构建作者的内在联系。

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