Early Medieval Soundscapes

2022 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K13100
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: Brooks Britton 九州大学, 言語文化研究院, 助教 (00826183)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: Soundscapes / Geophony / Biophony / Old English Literature / Anglo-Latin Literature

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

In the final year of Early Medieval Soundscapes, the project has continued to bear fruit. First, I was able to deliver papers at two conferences, one international and one domestic: 1. ‘Knowing Ocean(s): Borders and Boundaries, from Surface to Seafloor’, International Medieval Congress, Leeds University (UK), July 4-7, 2022; 2. ‘Sounding the World: Biophony and Geophony in Old English and Old Norse literature’, The 94th English Literary Society of Japan General Meeting, Doshisha University, May 21-22, 2022. I published an invited article in an edited volume, ‘The Sound-World of Early Medieval England: A Case Study of the Exeter Book Storm Riddle’, in Ideas of the World in Early Medieval English Literature, ed. Francis Leneghan, Mark Atherton, and Kazutomo Karasawa (Brepols, 2022). I also am under final review for my article, ‘Sonic Journeys on the Open Sea: Testing the Faithful in Old English and Anglo-Latin Literature’, with the Oxford based journal Review of English Studies.

The project has overall produced considerable results, including seven conference presentations and two published articles. The research that was accomplished during my research trips to the UK has provided the foundation for another article still in preparation, as well as for my intended short monograph for the Cambridge Elements series.