Utz, Richard J.

Literary Nominalism and the Theory of Rereading Late Medieval Texts a New Research Paradigm

1995 0-7734-8882-0
This is the first volume to offer a comprehensive examination of the theoretical and practical possibilities of an interdisciplinary approach to nominalism in medieval literature. The essays avoid theoretical reductivism and provide an outstanding critical perspective. In each essay, an expert scholar in the field investigates one of the existing theoretical approaches (e.g., nominalism as a direct 'source' for late medieval writers in the philological sense; nominalism as a philosophical superstratum; nominalism as part of a typical late-medieval mentality; nominalism as an intertext; medieval nominalist sign theory in comparison with twentieth-century sign theory, etc.) and then apply the chosen approach to a literary case study. It also contains the most inclusive bibliography on nominalism and late medieval literature. This volume will be the first and foremost source to be consulted for any scholar in the field.