Literary worlds : illumination of the mind

2010·2.3 MB·English

by  Young, Kristi A., author

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Digitized by the Internet Archive
2013
in
http://archive.org/details/literaryworldsilOOyoun

Literary Worlds:
Mind
Illumination ofthe
LTomPernSpecialCollections | HaroldB.LeeLibrary | BrighamYoungUniversity| 2010
U'
Prologue
hstartswithalittlesparkintheauthor'smind.Perhapsitissomethingthe)experienceorread,or
aletterfromafriend,orasuggestionfromaneditor.Maybeitcomesfromcurrenteventsorafacet
ofdaihjculture.Soman)possibilitiesexist.Buttheseideasmarkonlythebeginningoftheprocess.
Writingmustbedoneandthenredone.Thereareeditorstoconsultbeforethefinishedcop)
emerges.FinalKcomestheprintingandbinding.Whenallofthesestepsproduceapublishedcopy,
thecreationbeginstoilluminatemainmoremindswithnewideas,epiphanies,andamusement.
LiteraryIIbrlds:IlluminationoftheMindfocuseson24poetsandnovelistsinvariousstages
oftheircareersandtheircreativeprocesses.Allareorwerepartofacommunit)ofwriters,and
otherauthorsinspiredthemduringthecourseoftheircareers.Thedisplayedmanuscripts,letters.
drawings,andartifactscomefromBernSpecialCollections.The)provideglimpsesintofavorite
authorsperhapsnotconsideredbefore.Thiscatalogsharesthesparkofcreativityandindividual
personalitywhichshapedaselectgroupofauthorsrangingfromVictoriantimesuntiltoday.

ExpressionthroughWriting
TheevolutionintheWesternworldtowardindividualswhoexpressthemselvesthroughwritinghas
beenalengthyproeess.Beforethearrivaloftheprintingpress,thenumberofMedievalpeoplewho
couldsharetheirvoieesthroughwritingwasseverelylimited.Onlytheeducatedeliteeouldread
andwrite,meaningroyalty,nobility,andcourtandreligiousofficials,thevastmajorityofwhom
weremen.
Thenumberofreaderswasevenmorelimitedbecauseofthescarcityofbooks.Scribes,usually
monks,laboriouslycopiedbooksoutbyhand,takingyearstocompletethelongestones.These
bookswereenormouslyexpensive,eachexistingwithonlyahandfulofcopies.Or,alltoooften
therewasonlyonecopy.
forthesereasons,writingasameansforindividualstoexpressthemselveswasrare.Common
peoplewhochosetolivebytheirpen—andwhoknewhowtowrite—usuallysoughtrichandnoble
patronstosupportthem.Suchwasthecaseol'Ccol'f'rcvChaucer,sonol'arich\intnerwhocould
pav lorhisson'seducation.ChaucerenjoyedthepatronageoftheEnglishDukeJohnofGaunt,son
ofKingEdwardIII.InthedreampoemTheBokeoftheDuchesse,writtenaround 1368,'Chaucer
praisedtheduke'sbelovedwileBlanche,whohaddied.ItssuccesswiththeDukehelpedChaucer
tocontinuewriting.InthelasttenyearsolhislifeChaucerproducedtheenduringEnglishclassic.
TheCanterburyTales.Itstimclessnessisdueingreatparttohoweachtaleilluminatesthelivesof
commonpeopleasChaucersawthem.
\erj lewwomenfoundthemeansandthelibertjtowrite.Ofthosewhodid,somewerenuns.Some
wereroyaltyornobility.ChristinedePisan.however,wasacommonwoman,daughterol'acourt
astrologerinFrancewhoprovidedherwithaneducation.Whenherhusband'sdeathleftheralone
withthreechildren.Christinesupportedherselfasascribe.Atthesametimeshewrotepoetrjand
prose,mostnotablyproducingTheBookoftheC'ityofLadies,oneoftheearliestendeavorsinto
whatwouldlaterbelabeledasfeministthought."1Shedescribedthelifeofwomeninseveralsocial
groups,intheprocessilluminatingherintellectandwell-trainedreasoningabilities.Ilowever,
becauseChristinedePisandiedtenvearsbeforetheinventionofmovabletype,everythingshe
wroteanddistributedhadtobemadeavailableinhandwriting.
Withthearrivaloftheprintingpresscirca1439,3bookproductionbecamesosimplifiedthatit
monumentallyincreasedthenumberof"unofficial"peopleabletocontributetheirvoicestowritten
culture.Theupsurgefirstappearedinacademic,political,andreligiouswriting.Eventually it
spreadtoothergenressuchaspoetrjandfiction,availableformerlyonljtotherichexceptinthe
caseol'storvtelling•frommemorv.