![]() ![]() ![]() But even as historians of talk studies have skipped over early medieval evidence, the topic of rumor and talk has not come to the attention of early medieval scholars either. Gregory of Tours (539-594), the prominent voice of sixth-century Gaul, indicates, however, that this preoccupation with talk and gossip was not a late medieval phenomenon. As with most topics, later medieval periods offer historians interested in talk studies a multitude of encounters with medieval society, whether it be through legal, literary, or civic sources. Within this scholarship, however, the absence of late antique or early medieval examples is notable and at the same time misleading. Notable scholars of medieval talk studies, such as Thelma Fenster and Daniel Lord Smail, identify the diverse meanings that talk may have held for medieval people, who were often concerned with controlling society through the creation and shaping of reputations, good or bad. In the past decade, historians have shown a growing interest in the implications of talk and gossip in medieval culture and society. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |