Strange Matter: Medieval Disruptions of Time

(Hardback)

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Medieval and early modern texts reflect a fascination with material objects, from ancient heirlooms to ingenious automata. Often imbued with power or beauty, these objects carry an uncanny sense of otherness, their mysterious origins evoking wonder and suggesting temporal and spatial distance. Acting as repositories of temporal alterity, such artefacts bridge the past and present in profound ways.

This volume, featuring contributions from experts in literature and art history, explores how texts from these periods use material objects to engage with temporal otherness. From everyday items to marvellous creations, objects challenge distinctions between human and material, natural and cultural.

Whether examining the hybrid status of Hector's body in Lydgate's Troy Book or the temporal agency of humble bubbles, the chapters illuminate the vibrant networks connecting people and objects. By highlighting the 'hybridity' of matter, the book offers fresh insights into Bruno Latour's critique of nature-culture divides.

Author Bio

Martin Bleisteiner is a Member of the Cluster of Excellence Temporal Communities: Doing Literature in a Global Perspective, and Fellow of the Collaborative Research Center Episteme in Motion at the Freie
Universitt Berlin

Jan-Peer Hartmann is a Fellow of the Collaborative Research Center Episteme in Motion (SFB 980), Freie
Universitt Berlin

Andrew James Johnston is Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English Literature, English Department, Faculty of Philosophy and the Humanities at the Freie Universitt Berlin