Matching Items (19)
Description
In this dissertation I argue that medieval peoples used a different style of identity from those applied to them by later scholarship and question the relevance of applying modern terms for identity groups (e.g., ethnicity or nationality) to the description of medieval social units. I propose we think of identity as a social construct comprised of three articulating facets, which I call: form, aspect, and definition. The form of identity is its manifestation in behavior and symbolic markers; its aspect is the perception of these forms by people; and its definition is the combination of these perceptions into a social category. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, I examine each facet individually before synthesizing the results. I study the form of identity through an analysis of styles in material culture using a consensus analysis to determine how well objects decorated with the same motif do communicating a shared idea to members of a social group. I explore the aspect of identity through a whole-corpus linguistics approach to Old English, in which I study the co-occurrence of words for "a people" and other semantic fields to refine our understanding of Old English perceptions of social identity. Finally, I investigate the definition of identity by comparing narrations of identity in Old English verse and prose in order to see how authors were able to use vocabulary and imagery to describe the identity of their subjects. In my conclusion I demonstrate that the people of Medieval England had a concept of identity based on the metaphor of a village meeting or a feast, in which smaller, innate groups were thought to aggregate into new heterogeneous wholes. The nature and scale of these groups changed over the course of the Anglo-Saxon period but some of the names used to refer to these units remained constant. Thus, I suggest scholars need to apply a culturally relevant concept of identity when describing the people who lived in Medieval Britain, one that might not match contemporary models, and be cognizant of the fact that medieval groups were not the same as their modern descendants.
ContributorsRoberts, Christopher M (Author) / Hegmon, Michelle (Thesis advisor) / Bjork, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Van Der Leeuw, Sander (Committee member) / Wicker, Nancy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Linguistic subjectivity and subjectification are fields of research that are relatively new to those working in English linguistics. After a discussion of linguistic subjectivity and subjectification as they relate to English, I investigate the subjectification of a specific English adjective, and how its usage has changed over time. Subjectivity is held by many linguists of today to be the major governing factor behind the ordering of English prenominal adjectives. Through the use of a questionnaire, I investigate the effect of subjectivity on English prenominal adjective order from the perspective of the native English speaker. I then discuss the results of the questionnaire, what they mean in relation to how subjectivity affects that order, and a few of the patterns that emerged as I analyzed the data.
ContributorsSkarstedt, Luke (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Bjork, Robert (Committee member) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Despite the vast research on language carried out by the generative linguistics of Noam Chomsky and his followers since the 1950s, for theoretical reasons (mainly their attention to the mental abstraction of language structure rather than language as a performed product), historical linguistics from the start lay outside their research interest. This study is an attempt to bridge the gap between the formalism and theoretical constructs introduced by generative grammar, whose ultimate goal is to provide not only a description but also an explanation to linguistic phenomena, and historical linguistics, which studies the evolution of language over time. This main objective is met by providing a formal account of the changes hwæðer undergoes throughout the Old English (OE) period. This seemingly inconspicuous word presents itself as a case of particular investigative interest in that it reflects the different stages proclaimed by the theoretical assumptions implemented in the study, namely the economy principles responsible for what has become known as the CP cycle: the Head Preference Principle and the Late Merge Principle, whereby pronominal hwæðer would raise to the specifier position for topicalization purposes, then after frequent use in that position, it would be base-generated there under Late Merge, until later reanalysis as the head of the Complementizer Phrase (CP) under Head Preference. Thus, I set out to classify the diverse functions of OE hwæðer by identifying and analyzing all instances as recorded in the diachronic part of the Helsinki Corpus. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data have rendered the following results: 1) a fully satisfactory functional and chronological classification has been obtained by analyzing the data under investigation following a formal theoretical approach; and 2) a step-by-step historical analysis proves to be indispensable for understanding how language works at the abstract level from a historical point of view. This project is part of a growing body of research on language change which attempts to describe and explain the evolution of certain words as these change in form and function.
ContributorsParra-Guinaldo, Víctor (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Bjork, Robert (Committee member) / Nilsen, Don L. F. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
While tournaments, duels, and challenges were analyzed within literary texts prior to the 1980's, the most recent trend in scholarship has been to focus on how these proceedings fit into a historical context. Many authors have noted how medieval rulers used tournaments, duels, and challenges as a way to keep their militaristic knights under control; however, there has been relatively little study on the way that these three events function as a means of social control in medieval romances. This paper examines how the public nature of these events and the chivalric nature of their participants combine to subvert the agency of not only the nobles, but also King Arthur himself in four of the Sir Gawain romances, "Ywain and Gawain", "The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain", "The Awntyrs off Arthur at the Terne Wathelyne" and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
ContributorsWilhite, Amanda (Author) / Bjork, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Sturges, Robert (Committee member) / Maring, Heather (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This paper argues that the Anglo-Saxons were runic-literate. Although there is scant runic evidence, conclusions are based largely upon an initial learning paradigm (although it is unclear what this paradigm might have been), and the subsequent transmission of runic knowledge orally. Runic evidence includes Cynewulf's poem, the Old English Rune Poem, the Falstone Text, the Coffin of St. Cuthbert, and the Franks Casket. Missionary work and the syncretic approach of the Church is also examined in order to shed light on runic literacy, as well as how a reformation of the futhorc (if it did occur) impacted runic literacy. The state of runic knowledge across the entire Anglo-Saxon period is also considered, since there was, by no means, an overwhelming runic literacy for the entire 500 years under examination. Nevertheless, there is evidence of a consistent knowledge of the runes, which precludes any possibility that runic knowledge was completely lost during this period. The Ruthwell Cross is examined, since it raises an argument against a widespread runic literacy. With all of this evidence in one place, and in no particular order, we can see that it was very probable that the Anglo-Saxons, lay and elite alike, were runic-literate.
ContributorsPeters, Elijah David (Author) / Bjork, Robert (Thesis director) / Sturges, Robert (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Warriors, as all members of society in medieval Scandinavia, were bound by a course of rules that were imposed on them both culturally and by governing entities. In many cases, warriors were able to challenge these prescribed margins that held them in their place with limited success. Many warriors used their strength, wealth or powerful connections to exploit the judicial system and the inconsistent enforcement of legal proceedings. However, most of the warriors, who challenged these societal boundaries were checked either by a local ruler or by the people themselves who were often imposed upon or feuded with. This paper aims to look at what allowed warriors to push the margins in the Icelandic sagas, Hrólfs Saga Kraka ok Kappa Hans, Fóstbræðra Saga, and Egils Saga. It also looks at how this corresponds to the laws outlined in the Icelandic Grágás and the Norwegian Frostathing and Gulathing laws. While the law code postdates the settings in many of the sagas, they are more likely to apply.
This paper aims to give a greater understanding of how these warriors and overbearing men interact with the boundaries pressed upon them by medieval Scandinavian society and how these warriors made their place in a warrior culture. Especially in Iceland, where warriors increasingly fell out of place with Icelandic society, they struggled to fit themselves within the bounds of a society that did not have need of a standing army, but retained the warrior culture that is commonly seen in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark at this time.
This paper aims to give a greater understanding of how these warriors and overbearing men interact with the boundaries pressed upon them by medieval Scandinavian society and how these warriors made their place in a warrior culture. Especially in Iceland, where warriors increasingly fell out of place with Icelandic society, they struggled to fit themselves within the bounds of a society that did not have need of a standing army, but retained the warrior culture that is commonly seen in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark at this time.
ContributorsRebe, Tristan Jace (Author) / Bjork, Robert (Thesis director) / Sturges, Robert (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
I investigate how complementizers, which connect subordinate clauses to the main sentence, develop from other parts of speech, namely prepositions and adverbs. This occurs by the process of grammaticalization, in which a word loses lexicality and gains grammatical function instead. I use computer-based corpus analysis to determine how often certain words are used as each part of speech in my selected texts, and whether they are accompanied by other grammatical words. I use two Old English glosses of the Latin gospels, the Rushworth and Lindisfarne glosses, in order to analyze possible diachronic and geographical differences between the texts. I demonstrate that prepositions develop into adverbs and thence into complementizers with the assistance of certain grammatical accessory words which are later lost. This occurs by the process of reanalysis, in which the language user interprets a word or phrase differently than before.
ContributorsMackowski, Catherine (Author) / Gelderen, Elly van (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Karen (Committee member) / Bjork, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Since scholars first turned their attention to the subject some eighty years ago, one major area of contention in the study of Anglo-Saxon wills has been the function of the written will within Anglo-Saxon culture. Verbal agreements, formalized through oral ceremonies and symbolic actions, were recognized as legally binding; however, many of these agreements were also recorded in writing. Many scholars argue that the written document was superfluous;oral ceremonies were written down only in the case of memory failure and the documents themselves had no real performative function. Others see the existence of the written will to be evidence of a shift toward a more textually-dependent culture, reliant on the written as a way of managing society. It is unlikely, however, that the Anglo-Saxons themselves viewed the oral and written in such a binary manner. Rather, the two forms were intermingled, lending potency and performative power to one another. The present study concentrates on two Anglo-Saxon wills in order to demonstrate the ways in which the verbal and written work together in specific texts. By having such a singular focus, a more nuanced understanding of how the oral and written interanimate each other in ninth-century England can be attained. The vernacular will of Alfred, King of the West Saxons from 871-899, and the Latin will of Æðelric, son of Æðelmund (804), are particularly deserving of close attention. While they contain several features that indicate the authority of the voiced statement, they also demonstrate an exceptionally strong sense of the importance of the written. These two wills suggest a dynamic period in which the worlds of the oral ceremony and written word were still intermingled but clearly moving toward a valuing of the written as dispositive.
ContributorsCastle, Kasandra M (Author) / Bjork, Robert (Thesis advisor) / Maring, Heather (Committee member) / Rose, Jonathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
This grammar describes the inner workings of the language of the Fwonnel Peninsula, known in its English translations as Fwonnel, Arojaunzan, or, most succinctly, Arojun. Contained within this 288-page paper are sections dedicated to Phonology, Phonetics, Morphology, Syntax, Example Texts, and various other elements of the world that I have created. Arojun is a moderately analytic language that features a Verb-Object-Subject word order, a pronoun-tense auxiliary system, and two orthography systems with historic significance. Connected to the language and included within this paper are sections on original Calendar Systems, Music Theory and Notation, Naming Traditions, Geography of the Fwonnel Peninsula, Religions, Two Dictionaries, a collection of common phrases important to learning the language and interacting with the people, and an in-depth look at the full political and linguistic history of the Fwonnel Peninsula. The Sample Text section includes several lines of interlinear glosses translating popular scenes from television shows from English(or Japanese) into Arojun, videos of which were posted to my YouTube Channel, Agma Schwa, over the course of the past year. This language, and in essence, the entirety of the fictional nation of El Fwonk Casanosia, has been building up to this point since 2007, when I was only seven years old. I may have needed to occasionally bend over backwards to make the less logical, yet emotionally significant, parts of this language and history reach a point of satisfactory suspension of disbelief, but I believe that it turned out wonderfully. Either way, this project took a great deal of effort, by far the largest project that I have worked on in my life.
ContributorsCole, Robert Joseph (Author) / Van Gelderen, Elly (Thesis director) / Pruitt, Kathryn (Committee member) / Bjork, Robert (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor, Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Judaism had always been treated as a religio licita in the Roman Empire. With the rise of Christianity, the law curtailed the proselytism of Judaism, but Jews retained their citizenship and were permitted to practice their religion with certain restrictions. The Visigothic Kingdom in Spain and Gaul inherited this legal framework, but following the conversion of the Goths to Catholicism in 589, Jews faced the first state-sanctioned forced conversion around 615. Resistance to conversion led to a series of different policies that addressed the problem of apostacy, insincere conversion, and secret adherence to Judaism. The two main drivers behind this shift in policy were, on the one hand, an attempt by the crown to compensate its lack of sufficient forces to enforce its will throughout the country, which led to attempts to use other "softer" kinds of power, including an attempt to unite the kingdom around a Catholic-Gothic identity that necessarily excluded Jews. On the other hand, a focus by the Spanish Church at creating a Christian unity in anticipation of the Second Coming, organized around the thought of Isidore of Seville, which included the conversion of Jews as part of its program. The forced conversion policy was not successful, with only limited enforcement available. Jews engaged in several strategies to evade conversion, including voluntary exile and deception of the authorities. They sometimes enlisted the help of their Christian neighbors successfully. Following a relaxation of the conversion policy in the 620s, a significant class of Jewish apostates and outwardly Christian "prevaricators" (so-called by the Church) emerged. In a series of Church councils in the 620s and 630s, this problem was addressed head-on, with a variety of strategies taken, including legal and social pressure on converts, taking away the children of Jews to be raised as Christians, the use of an oath or placitum, and a second forced conversion in 637-638 which offered practicing Jews the option of baptism or exile. Conversion of the Jews and the problem of how to handle prevaricators continued to vex the Visigothic rulers down to the end of the kingdom in 711. Evidence does suggest that despite the pressure, Jews continued to live in Spain as Jews throughout the period. However, the laws created in this time, both secular and canonical, exerted a great deal of influence throughout the medieval period. Moreover, these events laid the foundations of later anti-Jewish rioting and expulsions from Spain in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
ContributorsGuth, Geoffrey J. (Author) / Samuelson, Hava Tirosh (Thesis director) / Bjork, Robert (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05