III Middle English KATE ASH-IRISARRI, TAMARA ATKIN, ANNE BADEN-DAINTREE, ALASTAIR BENNETT, DAISY BLACK, ANNA DOW, MARY C. FLANNERY, CARRIE GRIFFIN, GARETH GRIFFITH, HARRIET HOWES, YOSHIKO KOBAYASHI, MICHAEL MADRINKIAN, THERESA O’BYRNE, NIAMH PATTWELL, WILLIAM ROGERS, AND KATIE WALTER This chapter has fifteen sections: 1. General; 2. Theory; 3. Manuscript and Textual Studies; 4. Early Middle English; 5. Secular Verse; 6. Religious Verse; 7. Secular Prose; 8. Religious Prose; 9. Piers Plowman; 10. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Patience, Cleanness; 11. Romance: Metrical, Alliterative, Prose; 12. Gower; 13. Hoccleve and Lydgate; 14. Older Scots; 15. Drama. Sections 1 and 6 are by Anne Baden-Daintree; section 2 is by Katie Walter; section 3 is by Carrie Griffin; section 4 is by Alastair Bennett; section 5 is by Harriet Howes; section 7 is by Theresa O’Byrne; section 8 is by Niamh Pattwell; section 9 is by William Rogers; section 10 is by Michael Madrinkian; section 11 is by Gareth Griffith and Anna Dow; section 12 is by Yoshiko Kobayashi; section 13 is by Mary C. Flannery; section 14 is by Kate Ash- Irisarri; section 15 is by Daisy Black and Tamara Atkin. 1. General Douglas Gray’s Simple Forms: Essays on Medieval English Popular Literature examines the large body of oral or folk literature that survives in many medieval literary texts, and at the same time provides an introduction to many forms of ‘popular literature’ in written form. Gray’s interpretation of popular literature is broad, including the expected categories of romance, fable, song, folk tale, and ballad, but also encompassing proverb and riddle, drama, and satire. The book is largely organized around these genre categories, with a chapter on each preceded by three introductory chapters. There is an extended attempt to explain what constitutes popular literature, and some reflections on The Year’s Work in English Studies, Volume 96 (2017) ß The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the English Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com doi:10.1093/ywes/max006 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ywes/article/96/1/198/3089989 by KIM Hohenheim user on 24 April 2022