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X-WR-CALNAME:Litshop & Ancient and Medieval Studies Colloquium presents\, A
 rthur Bahr "Toward a Speculative Expansion of  Pearl\, line 735"
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260811T090413Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_44569658747372
DTSTART:20231026T210000Z
DTEND:20231026T220000Z
DESCRIPTION:Presented by: Arthur Bahr\, Associate Professor of Literature\,
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology\n\nAbstract: Conjectural emendation
  is one long-established method of last resort by which editors deal with 
 nonsensical or missing portions of ancient and medieval texts. It is often
  controversial even as a last resort because it relies upon conjecture—t
 he editor’s subjective sense of the text or author in question—rather 
 than the empiricism by which textual editing has tended to define itself. 
 This talk uses a single contested word in line 735 of the medieval poem Pe
 arl to propose ’speculative expansion’ as an alternative to conjectura
 l emendation. I ground this proposal in theories of speculation as develop
 ed by medieval philosophers and theologians\, for whom it served as a midp
 oint between cognition and contemplation\, subtended by both thought and f
 eeling. I propose expansion rather than emendation so as to respect the in
 herent multiplicity of literary and aesthetic meaning\, which Pearl in par
 ticular performs with exquisite beauty. With the audience’s help\, I als
 o hope to think through the practical ramifications of such theories upon 
 readers today.\n\nBio: Arthur Bahr is the author of Chasing the Pearl-Manu
 script: Speculation\, Shapes\, Delight (Chicago\, 2024) and Fragments and 
 Assemblages: Forming Compilations of Medieval London (Chicago\, 2013). Wit
 h Alexandra Gillespie\, he co-edited a special issue of The Chaucer Review
  (47.4\, 2013) on “Medieval English Manuscripts: Form\, Aesthetics\, and
  the Literary Text.” His next project\, tentatively entitled Sheets of P
 archment\, Sheets of Ice: Performance\, Inscription\, Erasure\, will combi
 ne his interest in manuscripts with his training as a figure skater and Na
 tional Singles and Pairs judge.
GEO:42.358576;-71.089568
LOCATION:Building 14\, 14E-304
SUMMARY:Litshop & Ancient and Medieval Studies Colloquium presents\, Arthur
  Bahr "Toward a Speculative Expansion of  Pearl\, line 735"
URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.mit.edu/event/litshop_ancient_and_medieval_s
 tudies_colloquium_presents_arthur_bahr_toward_a_speculative_expansion_of_p
 earl_line_735
CATEGORIES:Conferences/Seminars/Lectures
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