Oral and literate culture in England, 1500-1700

Description:

"This book explores the varied vernacular forms and rich oral traditions which were such a part of popular culture in early modern England. It focuses, in particular, upon dialect speech and proverbial wisdom, "old wives' tales" and children's lore, historical legends and local customs, scurrilous versifying and scandalous rumour-mongering." "Adam Fox argues that while the spoken word provides the most vivid insight into the mental world of the majority in this society, it was by no means untouched by written influences. Even at the beginning of the period, centuries of reciprocal infusion between these complementary media had created a cultural repertoire which had long since ceased to be purely oral. Thereafter, the growth of reading ability together with the proliferation of texts both in manuscript and print saw the rapid acceleration and elaboration of this process. By 1700 popular traditions and modes of expression were the product of a fundamentally literate environment to a much greater extent than has yet been appreciated."--Jacket.

subjects: English literature,  History,  History and criticism,  Oral tradition,  Popular culture,  Popular literature,  Social life and customs,  Social history, modern, 1500-,  Paralittérature,  Histoire et critique,  Culture populaire,  Histoire,  Tradition orale,  Mœurs et coutumes,  Early modern,  Manners and customs,  Verbale communicatie,  Mondeling taalgebruik,  Schrijftaal,  Mondelinge literatuur

Places: England

Times: 16th century,  17th century,  Early modern, 1500-1700