Literary Nominalism and Medieval Sign Theory: Problems and Perspectives

Author / Editor
Penn, Stephen.

Title
Literary Nominalism and Medieval Sign Theory: Problems and Perspectives

Published
Hugo Keiper, Richard J. Utz, and Cristoph Bode, eds. Nominalism and Literary Discourse: New Perspectives (Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, 1997), pp. 157-89.

Description
Nominalism and literature were never parts of a single, seamless discourse; influences between them are at best complex and indirect. Penn surveys research on literary nominalism in late-medieval (mostly Chaucerian) texts, arguing that sources other than nominalist philosophy better explain the ambiguities, linguistic playfulness, and similar symptoms of "nominalist" tendencies in late-medieval literature.

Alternative Title
Nominalism and Literary Discourse: New Perspectives.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.