The Study of Old English Literary Texts from the Perspective of Discourse Analysis: An Overview

Abstract

Sorne contributions to the study of medieval texts have fluctuated from a suggestion about a re-examination of traditional presuppositions, including a renovation with alternatives more consonant with our modern episteme, to considerations of philology as the matrix of medieval studies standing above the currents of fashion. Our linguistic contribution does not postulate a re-examination of traditional premises, nor the creation of a new philology. Being conscious of the usefolness of an interdisciplinary approach to the study oftexts, we should try to profit from recent trends in the study of discourse, provided that the previous general adjustments to the discursive requirement of a systematic approach towards text and context are properly considered.