Books by Caitlin Flynn
Manchester University Press, 2022
'The Narrative Grotesque' introduces a new critical framework for reading medieval texts. The nar... more 'The Narrative Grotesque' introduces a new critical framework for reading medieval texts. The narrative grotesque decentres critical discourse by turning focus to points at which literary texts distort and rupture conventional narratological and poetic boundaries. These boundary warping grotesques are crystallised at moments of affective horror and humour. Two seminal Older Scots works are used to exemplify the multivalent applications of the narrative grotesque: Gavin Douglas’s The Palyce of Honour (c.1501) and William Dunbar’s The Tretis of the Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo (c.1507). These texts create manifold textual hybridisations, transfigurations, and ruptures in order to interrogate modes of discourse, narratological subjectivities, and medieval genre conventions. Within the liminal space opened up by these textual (de)constructions, it is possible to reconceptualise the ways in which poets engaged with concepts of authenticity, veracity, subjectivity, and eloquence in literary writing during the late medieval period.
Papers by Caitlin Flynn
Das Mittelalter, 2023
This article shows that the later-fifteenth-century Older Scots version of the Seven Sages of Rom... more This article shows that the later-fifteenth-century Older Scots version of the Seven Sages of Rome matter, ‘The Buke of the Sevyne Sagis’, contains an especially provocative rendering of jurisprudence that emphasises pragmatism and constitutionality over direct investigation of the alleged crime. Yet the singular female voice found in the frame narrative, that of the empress, problematises male claims to juridical procedure and due process. Her resistance fundamentally destabilises the narrative premise and exposes the misogynistic content as a diversion from the primary mode in which the narrative operates: ‘mirror for princes’. Whether in ‘mirror for princes’ or exemplary narrative, the onus is on the recipient to delve beneath allegorical symbolism and poetic embellishment to discover the appropriate and morally edifying message; this is a process inherently open to variability and instability. This study undertakes a narratological analysis to untangle the judicially relevant bias encoded by the narrator and reflected in the male characters’, in particular, antifeminist bias. The empress is positioned as a dissenting voice that signals the need for a level of scepticism conducive to critical exposition. This discordant female voice thus demands that assumptions and surface-level conclusions be reassessed within the scope of a narrative characterised by its multiple subjectivities and interpretations.
Nottingham Medieval Studies, 2020
The introductory essay traces a constellation of critical theories, cultural contexts, and modes ... more The introductory essay traces a constellation of critical theories, cultural contexts, and modes of reading medieval literature to situate this collection of essays within a cross disciplinary critical landscape. Central to this discussion are the interconnected thematic concepts guiding this collected volume, namely the construction and performance of ‘voice’ as a gendered act. In this respect, the idea of ‘female voice’ is developed not as a monolithic, binary concept, but rather as a nuanced and malleable amalgamation of a range of cultural, literary, and structural factors. Finally, the presentation of essays on texts in Middle High German, modern German, Latin, French, and Older Scots is presented as a valuable project in reading medieval literature within a transcultural textual network.
Nottingham Medieval Studies, 2020
This essay examines the Middle High German Märe, Das Häslein (‘The Little Hare’). This comic tale... more This essay examines the Middle High German Märe, Das Häslein (‘The Little Hare’). This comic tale weaves together two separate episodes with distinct generic associations: the first a fully fledged fabliau, the second more fabular in tone. The interweaving of logical formula and moral instruction deftly represents the vibrant intertextuality of comic literature. Female voices prove to be essential conduits for the successful functioning of both moral and logical aspects of the poem. As such, considering the intersection of gender, speech, and silence as it appears in Das Häslein exposes the ways in which individual texts integrated different strands of writing in order to disrupt boundaries and ultimately to reinforce social mores and ideological systems.
Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 2021
This study assesses two rather odd fabliaux from the fifteenth century, one Scots and one German:... more This study assesses two rather odd fabliaux from the fifteenth century, one Scots and one German: 'The Freiris of Berwik' (anonymous, ca.1480) and 'Der Fahrende Schüler' (Hans Rosenplüt, ca.1426–60, “The Itinerant Student”). Both fabliaux hinge on extended episodes of ritual magic, or necromancy, that reach beyond any magical elements hitherto observed in other fabliaux. Not only this, but the conjurings, which act as the catalysts for the comic episodes, are remarkably accurate to extant formulae and recipes found in necromantic manuscripts of the period. This study seeks to bring these analogues into conversation and, in so doing, expose the surprising intersection of an apparently extracurricular form of poetry with modern intellectual trends, albeit trends that skirted the edges of acceptable or legitimate learning.
North American Journal of Celtic Studies, 2020
This essay investigates two appearances of the Gaelic folk figure, Cailleach Bhéarra (Scot. Gael.... more This essay investigates two appearances of the Gaelic folk figure, Cailleach Bhéarra (Scot. Gael. Cailleach Bheurr) in Older Scots comic poetry. The translation of the iconic ‘mother-goddess’ or ‘hag’ of Beara into Older Scots is provocative on two levels: foremost, the casual and familiar language used to relate the comic tales demonstrates a rich folk culture that crossed linguistic and geographic boundaries. Both tales center around the Scottish lowlands, which were not traditionally Gaelic speaking, however the mythical figures seem to fit comfortably within the cultural community of Edinburgh and its environs. The tales further merit attention since the figure of the cailleach is mobilized in a festive context that creates a pseudo-historical narrative of the fantastical origins of Scottish landmarks apparently formed by the cailleach’s excretions. Considering the folk figure in the context of festive, public entertainment informs our understanding of Scotland’s socio-cultural landscape in the early-sixteenth century.
Studies in Scottish Literature, 2019
In this paper Robert Henryson's 'Robene and Makyne' forms the basis for a compelling case study o... more In this paper Robert Henryson's 'Robene and Makyne' forms the basis for a compelling case study of the trend towards comic innovation in later medieval Scottish imaginative literature. Previously, the competing genres in 'Robene and Makyne' have challenged modern scholars owing to the seamlessness of Henryson’s weaving together of courtly and country, formal and frolicking. This essay considers the two eponymous figures as they personify the generic confusion complicating the formal qualities of the poem, specifically taking into consideration the complex and amorphous typological stereotypes embodied by the two lovers. In turn, these vibrant figures reflect the comic instability of the generic resonances within the text as well as wider trends in Scottish imaginative literature during the period.
Studies in Scottish Literature, Dec 15, 2015
Sets the portrayal of the pig in the anonymous Scots fifteenth-century poem The Tale of Colkelbie... more Sets the portrayal of the pig in the anonymous Scots fifteenth-century poem The Tale of Colkelbie Sow in the context of medieval fears of social disorder and mob rule, drawing on medieval accounts of the criminal trials of unruly pigs and other animals, and recent discussions of Scottish and medieval literary humour.
29.1, Mar 2014
This study seeks to demystify the tradition of Older Scots flyting—a form of poetic invective uni... more This study seeks to demystify the tradition of Older Scots flyting—a form of poetic invective unique to the late medieval Scottish court. Hip Hop battle raps provide a modern venue for exploring the motivations and potential rewards for engaging in this sort of technical poetic contest. The two forms, though culturally and historically distant, both exhibit analogous rhetorical techniques, which make this comparison possible. Each form is concerned with poetic identity—this is evident through each poet’s identification with specific communities or classes; while the concern with demonstrating superior technical skill is also essential to these invectives and is often highlighted through the manipulation of traditional forms and tropes. As an extension of this comparison, we hope to recover something of the tone and purpose of the medieval tradition, namely, that the poets who engaged in these public invectives were actually amicable rivals competing for increased court status and wealth.
Book Reviews by Caitlin Flynn
Journal of the Edinburgh Bibliographic Society, 2021
Scottish Historical Review , 2018
Conference Presentations by Caitlin Flynn
This paper considers the implications of female voice in comic narrative particularly as it revea... more This paper considers the implications of female voice in comic narrative particularly as it reveals the nature of female sexuality and agency. The female protagonist in the Middle High German comic poem, 'Das Häslein,' consistently speaks bluntly and naively thereby revealing both her ignorance and inherently voracious sexual appetite. In counterpoint, the male protagonist uses her naiveté to manipulate her into performing sexual acts. This paper focuses particular interest in the conjunction of innocence, inherent 'nature,' and feminine ideals as they are constructed in a comic context.
The fabliau rose as the comic form par excellence in French literature during the twelfth and thi... more The fabliau rose as the comic form par excellence in French literature during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. By the end of the fourteenth century it had long reached its peak only to be revived by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales. His contribution is widely considered the last great poetic innovation of the genre. However, the fabliau persisted beyond Chaucer: two later compositions reimagine the fabliau in a distinctly fifteenth-century intellectual and artistic environment. Der Fahrende Schüler (Hans Rosenplüt, ca. 1426-60, ‘The Itinerant Student’) and The Freiris of Berwik (anonymous, ca. 1480) use ritual magic to reinvent the long-standing architecture of the fabliau form. Ritual magic, or necromancy, occupied a liminal position in intellectual writing, but it also functioned as an ambiguous literary device across the literary spectrum. This paper will bring the Scottish fabliau into conversation with a German text in order to set both in a wider context of late-medieval comic writing. By instrumentalizing necromancy in a fabliau context, both narratives introduce a controversial scientific and theological question into a tradition marked by conventional stylistic and thematic tropes. These fabliau afterlives encapsulate the shifting intellectual and artistic sensibilities that characterize the late-medieval period.
Robert Henryson’s Older Scots poem Robene and Makyne, composed some time in the latter of the fif... more Robert Henryson’s Older Scots poem Robene and Makyne, composed some time in the latter of the fifteenth century, is layered by several inversions of courtly themes, genres, and topoi. Most broadly, the poem mixes three modes: the ballad, the contrasto, and the pastourelle. Henryson’s mosaic of forms is resistant to firm definition: both the poetic diction and the characterization of the protagonists are anomalous ‘examples’ of the modes they seem to reflect. Petrina (1999) has previously examined the checkered critical history of the poem: she asserts that critics have often been impeded by the poem’s dazzling enamel of comic vibrancy. Instead, she seeks to uncover more carefully the formal poetic foundations of the poem. By leaving to the side these studies, which only remark on the animated characters and dialogue, Petrina is able to define more objectively the poetic traditions that inform the poem, as well as the dexterity and dynamism of Henryson’s treatment of these traditions. The proposed paper seeks to reassess this ‘distracting’ shimmer of comic vibrancy in order to re-situate it within the framework of genre trouble in the poem. The conventions and modes of courtly love are clearly central to Henryson’s project: formal analysis has shown the ways in which Henryson adapts and inverts these generic conventions, however the comic tensions have, for the most part, only served to thwart critical analysis. In fact, the comedy of the narrative, expressed most clearly through the dialogue of the two characters, serves to highlight and enhance the mosaic of form and structure in the poem. One way in which these comic tensions punctuate Henryson’s critical use of courtly poetics is in Makyne’s mimicking of the rhetoric of courtly love. The breakdown of this rhetoric is, in turn, exposed by the persistent disconnect between the two speakers. Their disjunction creates the comic frisson which lays bare the sexual intent (shallowly) underlying the discussion. As a result, the framework of the poem, as attested by Petrina, is fleshed out by demonstrating the ways in which the comic energy and vibrancy sharpens her assertion that Henryson used the pastourelle as a tool to display his creativity and critical dexterity. By reasserting the influence of the comic tone and narrative fluidity, the dynamism of the poem achieves even greater nuance and texture.
Works Cited
Petrina, Alessandra. 1999. “Deviations from Genre in Robert Henyrson’s ‘Robene and Makyne.’” Studies in Scottish Literature. 31.1: 107-20.
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Books by Caitlin Flynn
Papers by Caitlin Flynn
Book Reviews by Caitlin Flynn
Conference Presentations by Caitlin Flynn
Works Cited
Petrina, Alessandra. 1999. “Deviations from Genre in Robert Henyrson’s ‘Robene and Makyne.’” Studies in Scottish Literature. 31.1: 107-20.
Works Cited
Petrina, Alessandra. 1999. “Deviations from Genre in Robert Henyrson’s ‘Robene and Makyne.’” Studies in Scottish Literature. 31.1: 107-20.