From Family Honor to Abstract Communities

Lars Boje Mortensen, "From Family Honor to Abstract Communities. A Literary Sociology of the Middle Ages"

In this talk I will make the case the study of literature and intellectual traditions in the Middle Ages can contribute significantly to long-term social history. I will argue that the sphere of written discourse itself is a dynamic historical factor and that the interplay between forms of social organization and the impact of an expanding book-culture has been overlooked in both historical and literary studies.

This talk is part of the Danish Institute for Advanced Study's LECTURE series.