Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Wright, Charles D
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Wright, Charles D
Committee Member(s)
Trilling, Renee R
Camargo, Martin
Jorgensen, Alice
Department of Study
English
Discipline
English
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Empathy, Old English, History of Emotions, Cognitive Linguistics
Abstract
This dissertation contributes to the fledgling field of medieval empathy studies by tracing the articulation of fellow-feeling in the literature and culture of Anglo-Saxon England across a broad corpus of anonymous homilies, saints’ lives, elegies, and heroic poems including Beowulf. The first three chapters identify cultural concepts and literary strategies that enabled Anglo-Saxon writers and readers to express and experience narrative empathy as well as cognitive linguistic strategies that enable modern critics to discern when texts invite shared emotions. These three chapters delineate cultural functions of literary fellow-feeling in relation to a wide range of Old English genres; the final two chapters develop these insights in detailed case studies. This project contributes to Anglo-Saxon and medieval studies by enlarging our understanding of narrative empathy and reading mentalities in Old English literature. Further, it contributes to empathy studies by highlighting culturally-specific functions of empathy not encompassed by contemporary theories.
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