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A Life Both Public and Private: Expressions of Individuality in Old English Poetry

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A Life Both Public and Private: Expressions of Individuality in Old English Poetry A Life Both Public and Private: Expressions of Individuality in Old English Poetry Brent R. LaPadula Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December, 2016 ii Acknowledgements It is a truth universally recognized that the PhD is a lonely process, where one often questions himself as much as the material in front of him. It is a path often rife with setbacks, hampered by indecision, and questioned along with one’s sanity. Its fair share of ego-shattering days often conspire with false confidence along a road of lament to which there is seemingly no end—a desolate avenue disappearing into the forest of one’s ambitions. It is also a journey along which few attempt to venture, and like the seafarer, a story that must be told, as the pull of inexorable fate into the unknown implores us to share what we have discovered as the end draws near. To give thanks to all of those who have walked with the solitary wanderer is therefore just as important as submitting the final work itself. My thanks must first go to Dr. Paul Cavill, my lead supervisor during my trek. Thank you, Paul, for your encouragement, patience, and always-thoughtful conversations since I entered the Department in 2010. Your thorough and critical, but fair eye, continuously honed my work, from my MA into postgraduate research. My fascination with Old English and the history of the period is largely due to your influence and direction. To me you have been a voice of inspiration and confidence, and I will always be thankful. Thank you also to my secondary supervisor, Dr. iii Christina Lee, for always offering your most honest voice and sympathetic ear (often on a variety of subjects) when I would regularly visit your office unannounced; yours was a consistent voice of support--an honest critique encouraging my strengths; for Drs. Aaron Parrett and Curtis Bobbitt, two of my undergraduate mentors/teachers at The University of Great Falls, to whom I owe my gratitude for their continued support and encouragement, even after years since leaving their classrooms; to fellow trekkers and friends, Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Rye and Eleni Ponirakis, whose friendship and ‘raclette nights’ helped keep me leveled these many years; to Dr. Owen Butler, who encouraged me to press on and unwaveringly offered his supportive ear and advice; for my Mom, whose support in every conceivable way made this endeavor possible (thank you for believing in me); for my Dad, who always had faith in my abilities, convinced me that no dream was out of reach, and helped me to believe in the standard maxim that if you can imagine it, then it can be done—your memory lives on in me, and I share this with you; for Angelina (‘Eenie Beenie’), whose patience and love has guided me towards completion these many years. And most importantly for my wife, Cathy, who has stuck by me since 2006, among all the pitfalls and speed bumps, and who always encouraged my progress and success. Thank you! iv Abstract By looking at a representative sample of Old English poetry, this thesis questions the long-held notion that the individual, or personal-self, was not a reality in the western world until the Renaissance. This research makes use of a variety of recent and past methodological approaches to the self, so that we may apply these theories to a study of the individual in Old English literature, and by extension Anglo-Saxon culture more generally. The four- chapter layout showcases how we may approach and answer the question of self in a variety of Old English verse—from elegies and didactic religious, to the heroic. Each study is unique yet complements that which preceeds and follows it, so as to highlight how the study of self is really an inquiry of only seemingly disparate concepts. The outcome of this analysis demonstrates that the individual, or personal self-concept in Anglo-Saxon England was a reality, and consequently challenges past beliefs that the individual is a relatively modern notion. Thus opening the dialogue once more, my research ultimately asks how we may proceed with the question of self in different contexts, historical eras, and eclectic methodological avenues of inquiry, that we may further develop our understanding of one of the most important and ancient questions in humankind’s story. v Table of Contents 1. Title Page -------------------------------------------------- i 2. Acknowledgements ---------------------------------------- ii-iii 3. Abstract ---------------------------------------------------- iv 4. Table of Contents ------------------------------------------ v 5. Introduction ------------------------------------------------ 1-47 6. Chapter 1: The Paradigm of Identity in Old English Literature: The Self as a Social Construct ----------------------------------- 48-99 7. Chapter 2: Memory and Identity Formation: A Cognitive Construction of the Self in The Wanderer and The Seafarer ----------- 100-171 8. Chapter 3: Living Vicariously and Identity Schema: The Multiple Selves of the Anglo-Saxon Scop ------------------------ 172-214 9. Chapter 4: A Case for Female Individuality in The Wife’s Lament and Wulf and Eadwacer ------------------------------------ 215-271 10. Conclusion ------------------------------------------------- 272-277 11. Bibliography ----------------------------------------------- 278-309 Introduction Towards an Understanding of Identity and the Self—Meaning and Methodology What is the self? It is a notion widely taken for granted, but in recent years there have been many theories about what it is, where it might reside in a person, and whether or not its genesis can be pinpointed to a particular historical era. This thesis explores some of the Old English poetry that deals with the concepts of selfhood and individuality in one form or another, and questions if we can identify selfhood and individuality in Anglo-Saxon personalities and therefore conclude whether the individual was a psychological reality in the Anglo-Saxon world. The result of this study will argue for the existence of a strong sense of individuality in Anglo-Saxon life, challenging past notions that the individual in the western world was an invention of either the twelfth or sixteenth centuries. To aid in this investigation, I incorporate a variety of modern methodological approaches to self-studies, many of which straddle different fields and academic subjects, showcasing how the question of self is diverse, both in its definition and discovery. This section begins with a brief outline that exhibits how the self has been approached through history, followed by some contemporary investigations of the self and the individual, including the many definitions that have been proposed. Following this, I 2 showcase some of the different methodologies used to understand the self and what others have said concerning the Anglo-Saxon self more specifically. Finally, I have included a chapter outline that details how this thesis proceeds with this line of inquiry, and the methodologies that I use in each chapter. Indeed, owing to its complicated nature, the concept of the self has been the subject of philosophical discourse for millennia, and some would indeed argue that we are perhaps no closer today in answering these questions than our antecedent thinkers. What is clear, however, is that the number of thinkers and the methodological resources available for an understanding of the self in the post-Cartesian world have increased exponentially, while the fundamental problem of defining, finding, and understanding the self has remained constant.1 One may then ask whether or not a philosophical, scientific, and folk-psychological consensus has ever been reached—it has not. In fact, the debate persists more lively than ever. Consequently, discussion surrounding this very human question continues to express itself in a variety of disciplines— including history, literature, sociology, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and many empirical scientific fields. Indeed, interrogatives regarding the nature of the self and individuality and how it is reconciled with the establishment of groups and communities have only increased in the last hundred years or so, as 1 Descartes’ Meditations was first published in 1641. 3 the reality of globalism meets nearly all of us head-on, every day, and on nearly every level of existence. An attempt to answer questions of identity, then, is not only of academic interest, but universal to human understanding, for in its answer is found the source for the very ideas of human purpose, communities, politics, and the psychology of these mental influences through time in humankind’s story. Therefore, my ambition is that this work will offer a snapshot of how self and personal identity operated in the Anglo-Saxon world, so that we may better understand the antecedents of this selfhood, and if/how it may have contributed to the modern concept of the self in the western world. What is the Self? Depending on the respondent, the idea of the self will vary. For some, identification with a particular political philosophy will determine their ‘selfhood’ or ‘autonomous identity’, while for others, nationalism provides a banner under which people see themselves as independent and unique.2 Perhaps yet another respondent will reply philosophically: ‘The “I” that thinks that I am thinking is the self’. Each answer is valid in each situation, and they are all open to criticism by what I call ‘situational-self protocols’.3 The first two 2 Often, a distinction is made between the idea of ‘self’ and ‘individual; here, however, I have used them interchangeably to account for a popular view that they can be associated with one another. 3 By this, I mean the peculiar situation in time and place that the idea is had. I.e., a subjective idea of the self is not universal but a fluid construct that is dependent on 4 responses are similar in that they are dependent on something outside of oneself (a community) to be valid, and the latter is unique for its highly subjective, non-dependent outlook (i.e., nobody else is needed for this interpretation of self).
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