John Skelton and Poetic Authority Defining the Liberty to Speak

This is the first book-length study of John Skelton (?1460-1529) for almost twenty years, and the first to link his poetic theory with his practice as a writer and translator. Reassessing Skelton's place in the English literary canon, it suggests the need to reconsider the conventional distinction between "Medieval" and "Renaissance" poetics.

John Skelton and Poetic Authority is the first book-length study of Skelton for almost twenty years, and the first to trace the roots of his poetic theory to his practice as a writer and translator. It demonstrates that much of what has been found challenging in his work may be attributed to his attempt to reconcile existing views of the poet's role in society with discoveries about the writing process itself. The result is a highly idiosyncratic poetics that locates the poet's authority decisively within his own person, yet at the same time predicates his 'liberty to speak' upon the existence of an engaged, imaginative audience. Skelton is frequently treated as a maverick, but this book places his theory and practice firmly in the context of later sixteenth as well as fifteenth-century traditions. Focusing on his relations with both past and present readers, it reassess his place in the English literary canon.

1 - Titular identity: orator regius, poet laureate, and vates
2 - Amplifying memory: The Bibliotheca Historica of Diodorus Siculus
3 - 'A fals abstracte cometh from a fals concrete': representation and misrepresentation in The Bowge of Court and Magnyfycence
4 - 'Shredis of sentence': imitation and interpretation in Speke Parrot
5 - Diverting authorities: the glosses to Speke Parrot, A Replycacion, and A Garlande of Laurell
6 - All in the mind: inspiration, improvisation, and the fantasy in Magnyfycence and A Replycacion
7 - Rewriting the record: Skelton's posthumous reputation

Jane Griffiths was born in Exeter but brought up in Holland. After reading English at Oxford, where her poem 'The House' won the Newdigate Prize, she worked as a bookbinder and lecturer in London and Norfolk. She subsequently returned to Oxford, where she completed her doctorate on John Skelton and worked as an assistant editor on the Oxford English Dictionary. She now teaches English at St Edmund Hall.