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The political implications of the OE prose translations of King Alfred (849-899) are overlooked by scholars who focus on the literary merits of the texts. When viewed as propaganda, Alfred’s writings show a careful reshaping of their Latin sources that reaffirms Alfred’s claim to power.
The preface to Pastoral Care, long understood to be the inauguration of Alfred’s literary reforms, is invested with highly charged language and a dramatic reinvention of English history, which both reestablishes the social hierarchy with the king more firmly in place at its head and constructs the inevitability of what is actually a quite radical translation project. The translations themselves reshape their readers’ understanding of kingship, even while creating implicit comparison between Alfred and the Latin authors.
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THE POLITICS OF TRANSLATION: AUTHORSHIP AND AUTHORITY IN THE WRITINGS OF ALFRED THE GREAT Allex Crumbley, B.A.
Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2008
APPROVED: Robert Upchurch, Major Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English Deborah Needleman Armintor, Committee Member Nicole Smith, Committee Member David Holdeman, Chair of the Department of English Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies
UMI Number: 1463551
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Crumbley, Allex. The Politics of Translation: Authorship and Authority in the Writings of Alfred the Great. Master of Arts (English), August 2008, 67 pp., references, 69 titles. The political implications of the OE prose translations of King Alfred (849-899) are overlooked by scholars who focus on the literary merits of the texts. When viewed as propaganda, Alfred’s writings show a careful reshaping of their Latin sources that reaffirms Alfred’s claim to power. The preface to Pastoral Care, long understood to be the inauguration of Alfred’s literary reforms, is invested with highly charged language and a dramatic reinvention of English history, which both reestablishes the social hierarchy with the king more firmly in place at its head and constructs the inevitability of what is actually a quite radical translation project. The translations themselves reshape their readers’ understanding of kingship, even while creating implicit comparison between Alfred and the Latin authors.
Copyright 2008 by Allex Crumbley
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to the help of numerous individuals in the production of this work. In particular I am grateful for the help of Robert Upchurch, who has guided this project from its inception through every stage of development. I would also like to think Deborah Needleman Armintor for her interest and encouragement. I am particularly grateful to her as well as to Nicole Smith for agreeing to serve on my committee. Finally, this essay would not have been possible without the tireless editoria