Margery Kempe - Böcker

A remarkable medieval woman's life and the earliest surviving autobiography in English, now updated with new materialThe story of the eventful life of Margery Kempe - medieval wife, mother, businesswoman, pilgrim and visionary - is the earliest surviving autobiography in English. Here Kempe recounts in vivid, unembarrassed detail the madness that followed the birth of the first of her fourteen children, the failure of her brewery business, her dramatic call to the spiritual life, her vow of chastity and pilgrimages to Europe and the Holy Land. Margery Kempe could not read or write, and dictated her story late in life: a remarkable portrait of a woman of unforgettable character and courage. This fully updated edition of Barry Windeatt's modern English translation includes a new introduction, notes and scholarly apparatus. Translated with a new introduction by Barry Windeatt

'Alas that I ever did sin! It is so merry in Heaven!'The Book of Margery Kempe (c. 1436-8) is the extraordinary account of a medieval wife, mother, and mystic. Known as the earliest autobiography written in the English language, Kempe's Book describes the dramatic transformation of its heroine from failed businesswoman and lustful young wife to devout and chaste pilgrim. She vividly describes her prayers and visions, as well as the temptations in daily life to which she succumbed before dedicating herself to her spiritual calling. She travelled to the most holy sites of the medieval world, including Rome and Jerusalem.In her life and her boisterous devotion, Kempe antagonized many of those around her; yet she also garnered friends and supporters who helped to record her experiences. Her Book opens a window on to the medieval world, and provides a fascinating portrait of one woman's life, aspirations, and prayers. This new translation preserves the forceful narrative voice of Kempe's Book and includes a wide-ranging introduction and useful notes.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Kempe's work is accompanied by an introduction, a map of medieval England, a Kempe lexicon, and explanatory annotations."Contexts" collects primary readings that illuminate The Book of Margery Kempe.  Included are excerpts from The Constitutions of Thomas Arundel, Meditations on the Life of Christ, The Shewings of Julian of Norwich, The Book of Saint Bride, and The Life of Marie d'Oignies by Jacques de Vitry."Criticism" includes nine varied interpretations of the autobiography, written by Clarissa W. Atkinson, Lynn Staley, Karma Lochrie, David Aers, Kathleen Ashley, Gail McMurray Gibson, Sarah Beckwith, Caroline Walker Bynum, and Nicholas Watson.A Selected Bibliography is also included.

“The only consistent thing about Margery Kempe and her Book is that they both seem fated to be made and remade, over and over, during her lifetime and afterwards. She has been a lay saint and a heretic, a dysphoric woman gendered as both mother and virgin, a mad woman and a brilliant maker, a person of privilege and a social outcast, a friend and a loner, a speaker of queer nonsense and mystical truth. This revised edition of the Book of Margery Kempe offers readers an opportunity to meet ‘the Creature’ (as she called herself) again in a renewed form. However we first find her, Margery Kempe and her Book challenges us to come back and see it all, again, in a new way.”—M. W. BYCHOWSKI, Case Western Reserve UniversityThis Norton Critical Edition includes:Lynn Staley’s superb translation, preserving the voices and cadences of the original text and retaining much of the Middle English language.A “Kempe lexicon,” defining the author’s idiosyncratic words and spelling, and additional explanatory annotations.Two new images of St. Nicholas’ chapel in King’s Lynn and a map of medieval England accompanying Staley’s revised introduction.Primary sources that contextualize the religious authorities and divine figures who inform Margery’s character and spiritual journey.Eleven critical essays—four new to the Second Edition—offering diverse perspectives on authorship, cross-culturalism, and moralism, among other topics.A selected bibliography.