A major work of modern critical theory that is concerned with establishing the dynamics of textual production in the Middle Ages. Integrating knowledge in philosophy, history, sociology, and language, Zumthor produces a detailed synthesis that depicts the literary understanding during the historical period that laid the basis for modern literature.

"One of the most remarkable features of this study is the temporal and spatial range of its purview. Translation has brought an important and original work into the purview of Anglo-American scholarship." Semiotica

"This book opened areas of investigation which prior to its publication were left largely unexplored. For a generation of English-speaking scholars who are beginning to study and questions assumptions raised by concerns such as how did a medieval audience conceive of a 'text,' this translation fills a gap." Chaucer Yearbook 2

$72.00 cloth/jacket ISBN 978-0-8166-1845-3
496 pages, 6 X 9, 1991