• “Locating the Devil ‘Her’ in MS Junius 11,” with Susan M. Kim, Gesta 54:1 (2015)

    Author(s):
    Susan Kim, Asa Simon Mittman (see profile)
    Date:
    2015
    Group(s):
    Medieval Art, Medieval English Literature, Medieval Studies
    Subject(s):
    English language--Old English, English literature--Old English, Anglo-Saxons--Study and teaching, Devil
    Item Type:
    Book chapter
    Tag(s):
    old englsih poetry, monster theory, Old English, Old English literature, Anglo-Saxon studies, Satan
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/t70x-4s15
    Abstract:
    This article focuses on the images and texts on page 3 of Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Junius 11, in which Lucifer foments rebellion, falls, and, as Satan, is bound to the mouth of hell. The bottom third of the page contains an image of falling angels, Satan, and the hellmouth. Above that image and to the left is written “hER SE,” Old English for “here that” or “here the.” We contend that this fragmentary textual note exaggerates both the linguistic function of other here x did y formulae in the manuscript and the interaction between these formulae and the visual images. Such exaggeration in the textual note at the very space and moment between the representation of rebellion and that of the completed transformation of Lucifer into Satan locates that metamorphosis in the act of reading-viewing itself. We consider the composition of the image and its inscriptions and set them into the context of Richard Drew’s Falling Man. Viewing the fall of Satan as part of a sequence of images and texts, we argue for the collaborative role of the viewer in sequential art and contend that Satan, as he appears in this depiction, is not safely distant from the reader-viewer but rather becoming through the active engagement of the viewer and reader in the creation of the world of image and language.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Publisher:
    The University of Chicago Press
    Pub. Date:
    2015
    Journal:
    Chicago Journals, International Center of Medieval Art
    Volume:
    54
    Issue:
    1
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    4 years ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
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