Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the Reception of the "Book of Sir John

Mandeville" by Rosemary Tzanaki

Review by: Carolyne Larrington
The Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 55, No. 219 (Apr., 2004), pp. 264-266
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3661275 .
Accessed: 24/03/2014 16:04
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Review of
English Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 190.98.232.98 on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:04:25 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

264

REVIEWS

BritishAcademycomesclose to adoptingthepositionarticulated
byEric Hobsbawm:
their
sense
ofwhatothers
menand womendefinetheiradherenceto a community
by
are like who do not 'belong','in otherwords,by xenophobia'(p. 113). In Pearsall's
view, thereis no way of avoidingthe unpalatablefactthat Chaucer displayedthe
wereinternational,
class,and culturalprejudicesofhis day.But hisinterests
linguistic,
in Englandas a nation'(p. 297). Akbari
'thereis no Englishpoet whois lessinterested
takesa different
view:'we are surelyjustifiedin referring
to the"discourseofnation"
in late fourteenth-century
English literature'(p. 124). The essays throughoutthe
volumeweredeliberately
chosenby theeditorto reflectdifferent
pointsof view.
If 'climate'maybe used figuratively,
so may'geography',
or,moreexactly,'cultural
whichseemsto meanin thiscontextanyattemptto cometo termswithgeography',
Muslim
world,conditionedby the knowledge,ignorance,and prejudice
'map'-the
England.Since thisworldwas unmistakably
foreign,
prevailingin fourteenth-century
it is arguedby some of the contributors
thatMuslimsmayalso becomea convenient
otherkindsofstranger:
heretics.
women,pagans,and home-grown
wayofrepresenting
describeswhathappensin theMan of Law's Tale when,in
Hence Susan Schibanoff
herterminology,
the'outlaw'becomesthe'inlaw'.Quite literally
one's in-lawsin this
context.This kindof'geography'is ultimately
ratherthanan objective
inward-looking,
to read the
enquiry:thusLouise Fradenburgemploysher trademark
psychologizing
Prioress'sTale as Chaucer'sstudyofnarrative
stasis.It is a storywhichemploysmany
wordsto describenotverymuch,and itsanti-Semitism
is a backward-looking
parody
cruel
of
real
revolution
and
(a
one)
change.
However,otheressaysconveymorepositiveviewsoftheculturalbenefitsaccruing
to ChaucerfromWesterncontactwiththeEast. DorotheeMetlizkishowsin detailthat
Chaucer's use of alchemicalterms in the Canon's Yeoman's Tale is exact and
The presentreviewerwas grateful
forthe information
and references
knowledgeable.
to sourcesgivenhere,and in VincentDiMarco's expositionofthehistoricalplacesand
in theSquire's Tale. KathrynLynchand KatharineSlaterGittes
people fictionalized
both canvas openly the possibilitythat the veryidea of a framingnarrative,the
whichprovidestheexcuseforstorytelling,
fromEastern
derivesultimately
pilgrimage
the
even
most
of
them
the
'Thousand
famous
and
One
models,perhaps
all,
Nights'.
'Culturalgeography'
with
providesa generousumbrellafora varietyofcontributors
thecoherenceseemsat timesa
differing
agendas.Maybe,as in otheressaycollections,
littlestrained,but it does not seem to mattertoo much.Providedthatthe essaysbe
and provocative-asmostof themare-the editor'swish
informative,
clearlywritten,
to avoid an artificial
is to be welcomed.
uniformity
H. L. SPENCER ExeterCollegeOxford

ROSEMARY
TZANAKI.
Mandeville's Medieval Audiences: A Study on the
Reception of the Book of Sir John Mandeville. Pp. xvi+302. Aldershot:
Ashgate,2003. ?47-50.
This valuablestudyof the Book ofJohnMandevilleseemsat firstsightto promise
morethanit can ultimately
deliver.Yet RosemaryTzanaki succeedsin analysingas
much as can be knownabout receptionin termsof the kindsof data available.The
thevariousgenericelementsin
Tzanakiidentifies
questionis addressedsystematically:
the book as clues to authorialintentand closelyexaminesthe principaldifferent
redactionsofthetext,theirmarginalia
and illustrations,
and thecompaniontextsto the
Book in the codices in whichit is bound. The Book's influenceon othermedieval
The ReviewofEnglishStudies,New Series, Vol. 55, No. 219, O OxfordUniversityPress 2004; all rightsreserved

This content downloaded from 190.98.232.98 on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:04:25 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

REVIEWS

265

works,Christinede Pizan,Jeand'Outremeuse,forexample,is also takenintoaccount:

Christinemakesuse ofit forgeographical
information;
JeanreadstheBookas history,
he
has
no
in
its
though
compunction changing personaintoa nativeofLiege. Tzanaki
subdividesthegenericaffiliations
oftheBookintopilgrimguide,geographical
treatise,
and theologicalwork.Much of interestis uncoveredby workingto
romance,history,
thisplan,rangingfromthequirky-one ownerof theCottonmanuscript
toreout the
sectionon the Holy Land, presumablyforuse as a guide when travelling-tothe
withthetoleranceand humanism
predictable:audiencesdid notgenerally
sympathize
whichthe personaexpressestowardsotherreligions,to the pointthatsuch sections
wereoftencurtailed.
Two particular
are exemplary:
transformations
thetranslation
ofthevernacular
text
into Latin, and the creationof a metricalversionproduceconcomitantchangesof
typesofintendedaudience.Tzanaki
emphasisin thetextwhichsuggestverydifferent
noteshow the Latin versionaccommodatesitselfmorecloselyto orthodoxChristian
views,illustrated
bya chapterheading:'of thedetestablesectoftheSaracensand their
faith',a sentimentquite at variancewiththe tenorof the persona'sviewsof Islam.
There is increasedcastigationof the practicesof bad Christians,the prophecyabout
oftheHoly Land is omitted,and theromanceelementsaremuchreduced.
theretaking
A tellingdemonstration
of medievalauthorizingpracticesoccurs whenthe Vulgate
theBook's
to Odoric of Pordenonein orderto confirm
Versionadds cross-references
withoutrealizingthat Odoric is in fact the Book's source for these
authenticity,
passages.The MetricalVersionconsiderablyreducesany sense of the personaas a
a substantial
on the marvellous,incorporating
character;it concentrates
particularly
about the
sectionon the 'Stationsof Rome' and addingsome dubious information
locationof Purgatory.
geographical
ofillustrations
as mightbe expected,thatthetraditional
The examination
confirms,
wonders,in particularthe Plinian races, were frequentlychosen for depiction.
and Blemmyaewereno doubtto
schemaforAnthropophagi
Establishedillustrative
as weredesignsforbiblicalincidents.Anecdoteswhichbelong
handin theworkshops,
to romanceare illustrated
freely,as is the splendourof the courtof the GreatKhan.
woodcuts,and thesophistication
Wynkynde Worde's 1499editionhas manystriking
Czech
and elegance of the illustrationsin the incompleteearly fifteenth-century
Textless Version,and in BibliothequeNationalede France MS fr.2810, the Livre
tradition.The
de Merveilles,makeone longfora fullstudyof theBook's illustrative
ofthetravelogue
abouttheHoly Land, butalso point
marginalia
signaltheimportance
of the earth,the forestof pepper trees,no doubt because of
up the circumference
pepper'senormouseconomicvalue,and the Plinianraces,whose appearancein the
and authorizingstrategy.Romance
text,howeverbriefly,servesas a confirmatory
anecdotesare sometimesannotatedas tale or goudetale, but draw littleadditional
comment,whilethe storyof ChinggisKhan and thearrows,doubtlessbecause of its
similarityto Aesop, and referencesto biblical history,is also widely noted. A
of exoticanthroFrenchannotatoradds 'coutumefolle'to descriptions
disapproving
activities.
pological
in whichit is bound.
The Bookkeepsmixedcompanyin thedifferent
manuscripts
containeitherreligiousor marveltexts.
Tzanaki suggeststhatthesepredominantly
but othercompilers
The Book's mostfrequentcompanionis theRomand'Alexandre,
in theirhistoricity
as
see it as a travelnarrative,
combiningit withworksas divergent
the VoyagesofBrendanand theLetterofPrester
John,on theone hand,and Odoricof
voyages
Pordenone,Marco Polo, and, in time,accountsofthePortugueseexploratory
on theother.The DefectiveVersionis bound withPiersPlowmanat leastfivetimes.
The ReviewofEnglishStudies,New Series, Vol. 55, No. 219, ? OxfordUniversityPress 2004; all rightsreserved

This content downloaded from 190.98.232.98 on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:04:25 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

266

REVIEWS

worksof
Other versionsare foundwith the SpeculumChristior the Elucidarium,
theologywhichtendtowardstheencyclopedicor historical.Given thatthepersona's
humanismand tolerancearelargelyeditedoutoftheMetricalVersion,it is no surprise
In chronological
to finditboundwiththeSiegeofJerusalem.
terms,Tzanakiconcludes
thatthe Book's earliestaudience,who regardedit as a pilgrimageaccount,foundits
attitudesoftolerancedisquieting.Laterreadersvaluedit foritsromanceelementsand
usefulinformation
aboutquestions
exoticism,thoughit was also regardedas providing
to an astonishingly
widerangeofpeople.Columbusfamously
ofscienceand geography
owneda copy,MS Harley212 belongedto JohnDee at one time,whiletheheretical
viewsofMenocchio,as reportedin Carlo Ginzburg'sclassicTheCheeseandtheWorms,
werepartlyinspiredby his receptionof theBook.
The introduction
containsa veryusefullist of manuscripts
containingmarginalia
and a diagramof the relationship
versions.
and/orillustrations
betweenthe different
withcodicological
More usefulstillmighthave been a completelist of manuscripts
information.
The index conflatesowners with audience, obscuringan important
distinction
not adequatelyexploredhere.The book stillsoundslikethe thesisit was
in places:thereis a tendencyto quotefromsecondaryliterature
whereprimary
sources
would have been preferable.Thus we have to take the author'sword forchanges
effectedby the Mandeville-author
to Boldensele,Odoric of Pordenone,Gervase of
detailsofeditionsconsultedare notgiven.
of Torkyngton:
Tilbury,and thePilgrymage
The volumeis generallywell produced,thoughsome readerswill be momentarily
confusedby the wrongpicturesbeingattachedto correctly
placed captionson pages
179and 265. Nevertheless,
thisstudyis thorough
and absorbing,
and itprovidesa great
deal of information
which,it maybe hoped,will inspireothersto look closelyat the
medievalworks.
paratextsof influential
CAROLYNE
LARRINGTON
St John'sCollegeOxford

DAVIDLOEWENSTEIN
and JANEL
MUELLER
(edd.). The Cambridge History of Early
Modern English Literature. Pp. xii+1038 (The New CambridgeHistoryof
EnglishLiterature).Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity
Press,2002. ?100.
Hold hardlibrarians,
please!This singlevolumeof theNew CambridgeHistoryof
Literature
cannot
English
replacethefivevolumesoftheoriginalCambridgeHistory,
whichdevotesfivevolumesto the equivalentperiod:it is stillusefulforits contentsummariesofless wellknownworks,whichhavebeenexcludedhereto savespace and
allownewinterests
in.The function
ofthevolumeunderreviewis to updatereaderson
the progressof scholarshipover roughlythe last thirtyyears, and this it does
admirably.It would be veryhelpfulreadingfor a beginninggraduatestudent,at
least the firstsectionon 'Modes and Means of LiteraryProduction,Circulationand
Reception',and thaton the specificera in whichthe studentis interested.The full
footnotesand terminalbibliographyenable a reader to follow up and widen
appreciationof the topicsdiscussed.
Afterthe initialsectionoutliningthe continuitiesand changesin, forexample,
literacy,manuscriptand printcultures,patronage,and readers,the remainingtwothirdsoftextare dividedintofoureras,1529-1558,1558-1603,1603-1642,and 1642a chapterwhichtakesthehistory
1660,thelastcontaining
throughto the1670s.Within
each era, a chapteris givento consideration
of a prominentarea of literaryactivity,
suchas thenation,thecourt,theChurchor Christianity,
and the
London,thetheatre,
and
the
as
sites
of
household,progressively
broadening
lengthening
productionand
The ReviewofEnglishStudies,New Series, Vol. 55, No. 219,

OOxfordUniversityPress 2004; all rightsreserved

This content downloaded from 190.98.232.98 on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:04:25 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions