Transforming Topoi

The Exigencies and Impositions of Tradition

Contributions by Peter-André Alt Contributions by Stephen Graukroger Contributions by Katharina Krause Contributions by Andrew James Johnston Contributions by Maria Muccillo Contributions by Anna Laura Puliafito Contributions by Bernd Roling Contributions by Margitta Rouse Contributions by Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann Contributions by Gideon Stiening Contributions by Phillip H. Stump Edited by Andrew James Johnston Edited by Margitta Rouse Edited by Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann

Book cover: Transforming Topoi

Extent: 233 pages

Publisher: V&R unipress

Subjects: Early Modern & Renaissance Studies, Medieval Studies, Philosophy

Series: Berliner Mittelalter- und Fruhneuzeitforschung

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(September 2018)

ISBN: 9783847108962

6.34 x 9.33 inches

Price: $69.00

In stock

The present collection of essays studies the ways in which traditions are employed in the service of symbolic politics. What are the burdens and impositions of traditions, when their topoi are consciously exploited in the service of ideological purposes? Are there certain limits to manipulation that lie in the very nature of the traditions in question, a nature which therefore defines them? The contributors give a host of answers, studying topoi in medieval and early modern Europe from an interdisciplinary perspective.


Traditions thrive on the dialectic of repetition. Drawing their topoi from the well of memory, they are situated on the very border between the deliberate and the habitual. Yet how is it possible to influence traditions? The present collection of essays studies the ways in which traditions are employed in the service of symbolic politics. What are the burdens and impositions of traditions, when their topoi are consciously exploited in the service of ideological purposes? Are there certain limits to manipulation that lie in the very nature of the traditions in question, a nature which therefore defines them? The contributors give a host of answers, studying topoi in medieval and early modern Europe from an interdisciplinary perspective.

  • Contributions by Peter-André Alt
  • Contributions by Stephen Graukroger
  • Contributions by Katharina Krause
  • Contributions by Andrew James Johnston
  • Contributions by Maria Muccillo
  • Contributions by Anna Laura Puliafito
  • Contributions by Bernd Roling
  • Contributions by Margitta Rouse
  • Contributions by Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann
  • Contributions by Gideon Stiening
  • Contributions by Phillip H. Stump
  • Edited by Andrew James Johnston
  • Edited by Margitta Rouse
  • Edited by Wilhelm Schmidt-Biggemann