Microliteratures: The Production of the Margin in Medieval and Early Modern Iberian Books (Medieval Societies, Religions, and Cultures)

By: Jesús R. Velasco

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Synopsis: Microliteratures is an innovative examination of writings done in the margins of medieval manuscripts and early modern books. Not always as formal as glosses, sometimes feverish and abbreviated, these marginal writings or, "microliteratures," are the product of readers thinking with the text at the center of the page. Jesús R. Velasco argues that microliteratures are not private annotations but, rather, a humanistic activity performed in the public sphere. These marginal engagements with texts are made public to future readers of the same book. Surveying the microliteratures of a wide range of medieval and early modern Iberian genres—legal, religious, chivalric, and political texts—Velasco finds that in the shared space and time of reading, microliterary actions and artifacts are also models of public humanities work that connects texts to contemporary issues. Microliteratures emerge from this ambitious book as a way of understanding the self as a reflective and politically engaged reader in conversation with past, present, and future readers as contemporaries.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 246 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9781501782404
Related ISBNs:: 9781501782398, 9781501782381, 9781501782374
Publisher:: Cornell University Press
Date of Addition:: 07/15/25
Copyrighted By:: Cornell University,
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: History, Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.
Foreword by:: M. Cecilia Gaposchkin
Foreword by:: Anne E. Lester
Translator:: Consuelo López-Morillas