Beowulf at Kalamazoo

Essays on Translation and Performance

Jana K. Schulman is Professor of English at Western Michigan University specializing in law and literature in medieval Iceland and Anglo-Saxon England. Paul E. Szarmach is Professor Emeritus of English at Western Michigan University, as well as the former Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of American and of the Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University. His research and publications have focused on Anglo-Saxon literature and culture.

Book cover: Beowulf at Kalamazoo

Extent: 444 pages

Publisher: Medieval Institute Publications

Subjects: Literary Studies, Medieval Studies

Series: Studies in Medieval Culture

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(January 2012)

ISBN: 9781580441520

6.14 x 9.21 inches

Price: $24.95

In stock

This is a collection of essays designed to capitalize on the success of Seamus Heaney’ prize-winning translation of Beowulf, which bridges the gap between the ivory tower where most who study Beowulf reside and lay readers drawn to the poem because of Heaney’s reputation, the reviews or even perhaps the eye-catching cover.


This is a collection of essays designed to capitalize on the success of Seamus Heaney’ prize-winning translation of Beowulf, which bridges the gap between the ivory tower where most who study Beowulf reside and lay readers drawn to the poem because of Heaney’s reputation, the review in the New York Times Book Review, the Whitbread Prize for poetry, and even perhaps the attractive and eye-catching cover. The book is conceived in three parts. The first section explores translations into modern English and languages other than English; the second explores issues of oral theory and performance; the third offers a wide selection of reviews of Heaney’s Beowulf written by Anglo-Saxonists. A DVD of readings of the first fifty-two lines of Beowulf in Old English, Czech, Spanish, Icelandic, Hungarian, and Italian, and selections from Turkish and Asian epics accompanies the volume. “Beowulf” at Kalamazoo should be of interest to Anglo-Saxonists, translation theorists, linguists, oral and performance theorists, and anyone anywhere in an English department who teaches Beowulf in translation.

Introduction Part 1. Essays on Translation The Languages of Beowulf between Klaeber and Heaney by Daniel Donoghue Who's Afraid of Translating Beowulf? by Nicholas Howe Iron and Irony in Beowulf by R. M. Liuzza Monstrous Introductions: Ellengaest and Aglaecwif by Jana K. Schulman Sweet's Prose Beowulf by Paul E. Szarmach Behemas þ
a Hildlatan: Beowulf
and Its First Translation into Czech by Jan Cermak Beowulf in Spanish by Maria Jose Gomez-Calderon Beowulf in Hungarian by Katalin Halacsy Scholz Italian Translations of Beowulf by Claudia Di Sciacca and Loredana Teresi The Intimacy of Bjolfskvið
a
by Petur Knutsson Part 2. Essays on Performance Performance I: Beowulf (A Roundtable Discussion) by Mark Amodio, Benjamin Bagby, Karl Reichl, and John Miles Foley Why Performance Matters by John Miles Foley "Swutol sang scopes": Field Notes on the Performance of Beowulf by Karl Reichl Part 3. Reviews of Heaney's Beowulf By Michael Alexander, S. A. J. Bradley, Graham Caie, Jan Cermak, Howell Chickering, Daniel Donoghue, Randi Eldevik, Loren C. Grube, Nicholas Howe, Heather O'Donoghue, Tom Shippey, E. G. Stanley, G. Storms, Julian Wasserman, Hideki Watanabe, Gernot Wieland, and Jonathan Wilcox, Introduction
Part 1. Essays on Translation
The Languages of Beowulf between Klaeber and Heaney by Daniel Donoghue
Who’s Afraid of Translating Beowulf? by Nicholas Howe
Iron and Irony in Beowulf by R. M. Liuzza
Monstrous Introductions: Ellengaest and Aglaecwif by Jana K. Schulman
Sweet's Prose Beowulf by Paul E. Szarmach
Behemas þa Hildlatan: Beowulf and Its First Translation into Czech by Jan Cermák
Beowulf in Spanish by María José Gómez-Calderón
Beowulf in Hungarian by Katalin Halácsy Scholz
Italian Translations of Beowulf by Claudia Di Sciacca and Loredana Teresi
The Intimacy of Bjólfskviða by Pétur Knútsson
Part 2. Essays on Performance
Performance I: Beowulf (A Roundtable Discussion) by Mark Amodio, Benjamin Bagby, Karl Reichl, and John Miles Foley
Why Performance Matters by John Miles Foley
"Swutol sang scopes": Field Notes on the Performance of Beowulf by Karl Reichl
Part 3. Reviews of Heaney's Beowulf
By Michael Alexander, S. A. J. Bradley, Graham Caie, Jan Cermák, Howell Chickering, Daniel Donoghue, Randi Eldevik, Loren C. Grube, Nicholas Howe, Heather O'Donoghue, Tom Shippey, E. G. Stanley, G. Storms, Julian Wasserman, Hideki Watanabe,
Gernot Wieland, and Jonathan Wilcox

  • Edited by Jana K. Schulman
  • Edited by Paul E. Szarmach