The Dissemination of Small-Format Editions of Greek-Latin Parallel Texts, and Their Influence on English Poetry and Drama in 1580s

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22520232
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Ochanomizu University
• Principal Investigator: SHIMIZU Tetsuro お茶の水女子大学, 大学院人間文化創成科学研究科, 准教授 (60235653)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 印刷文化 / 古典文学受容 / 初期近代 / 英国演劇 / 英詩 / シェイクスピア / マーロウ / チャップマン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Printing technology developed rapidly after 1490s, and several printers in the mid-sixtenth century produced low-price, sextodecimo bilingual editions of classical Greek literature, aiming to sell them to university students. These editions are known to have actually sold on a massive scale. This study assumed that small editions and large editions of classical Greek literature individually led to two different cultures, and examined the cases of late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century English drama and poetry. Christopher Marlowe was keen on creating boldly new etiology, while Shakespeare tended to be more realistic and in one way “psychoanalytic.” Ben Jonson’s reception of classical Greek literature needs further investigations, though he may have belonged to the same culture as Marlowe and Shakespeare. George Chapman seems to have made much of classical authority in his peculiar way, probably because he was constantly seeking patronage.

Free Research Field

英語英米文学