'Spearca... soethfæstnesse' ('spark of truth'): the Materiality of Language in Early Medieval English Translation Culture

My area of research is focused on the late-ninth and early-tenth century English translations of highly influential and complex texts that date to late antiquity. I am particularly interested in theories of translation and models of linguistic self-consciousness that were written in Latin and were available to early English scholars and the kind of influence that they had on the development of an Anglo-Saxon translation culture, in particular on the Alfredian corpus of texts. However, it should be noted that this corpus is by no means a fixed or homogenous body of texts. By drawing on linguistic data, historical evidence and literary approaches, I aim to broaden understanding of the dynamic and complex Anglo-Latin environment which existed in pre-Conquest England. Such an approach complements current emphases on early medieval England as a multilingual and multicultural environment.

I also want to engage with recent scholarship that has been carried out in translation studies and in the study of material culture and consider how they might facilitate new ways of approaching the Alfredian texts as well as the relationship between individual translations. This seems like a timely intervention and one that can take advantage of the new and recently published editions of my primary texts (Susan Irvine's and Malcolm Godden's 2009 edition of the 'Old English Boethius' and Godden's 2016 edition of the 'Old English Orosius', titled the 'Old English History of the World'), as well as Leslie Lockett's upcoming edition of the 'Old English Soliloquies' for the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series.

Whilst my research will focus on the Alfredian translations, I will also draw on a range of other Old English and Anglo-Latin works where appropriate. Such a process will involve engaging with texts not often studied in connection with the late-ninth and early-tenth century vernacular translations, such as Alcuin's treatises, the 'Liber Scintillarum', and Ælfric's 'Grammar' and 'Colloquy'. This broader engagement is especially relevant considering current research priorities because it foregrounds texts whose often numerous manuscript witnesses indicate a broad Anglo-Saxon reception-history and literary influence.