Optically stimulated luminescence dating and Middle English lyric: Difference between pages

Revision as of 04:59, 7 December 2004

Revision as of 06:18, 13 October 2005

Line 1:

'''Middle English Lyric''' is a [[genre]] of [[English Literature]], popular in the 14th Century, that is characterized by its brevity and emotional expression. Conventionally, the lyric expresses "a moment," usually spoken or performed in the first person. Although some lyrics have narratives, the plots are usually simple to emphasize an occasional, common experience. Even though Lyrics appear individual and personal, they are not "original;" instead, lyrics express a common state of mind.

'''Optically Stimulated Luminescence''' or '''OSL Dating''' is a method of establishing the age of soil sediments. It is used by [[archaeologist]]s as an alternative to [[radiocarbon dating]].

== Audience ==

All soils contain trace minerals including [[uranium]], [[thorium]] and [[potassium]]. These slowly decay over time and the ionising radiation they produce is absorbed by other constituents of the soil sediments such as [[quartz]] and [[feldspar]]. Stimulating samples using [[infrared]] light causes luminescence, the intensity of which varies depending on the amount of radiation absorbed. Exposure to sunlight resets the luminescent signature and so the time period since the soil was buried by later sediments can be calculated.

Middle English Lyrics were meant to be heard, not read. Keeping in mind an [[aural]] [[audience]], the lyric is usually structured with an obvious rhyme scheme, [[refrain]], and sometimes musical effects. The rhyme scheme primarily functions as a [[mnemonic device]] for the audience. The Refrain, however, has several critical functions. The Refrain gives the lyric unity and provides commentary (this is not unlike the bob and wheel found in ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]''). In addition to functioning thematically, the refrain encourages audience to participate in singing the lyric. Finally, Musical Effects also encourage audience participation, and they take the form of rhythms and sounds (for example, [[onomatopoeia]] is not an uncommon [[trope]] employed).

== Authorship ==

Wind blown and [[colluvium|colluvial]] deposits are particularly suitable for dating using this method as it can be certain that those soils were exposed to sunlight before being overlain. As the technique does not require organic samples it is more widely applicable that carbon dating. It is also reliable over a longer period than C14 and can be used on deposits up to 200,000 years old. OSL is therefore most commonly used on prehistoric sites.

Most Middle English Lyrics are anonymous. Because the lyrics reflect on a sort of "community property" of ideas, the concept of copyrighting a lyric to a particular author is usually inappropriate. Additionally, identifying authors is very difficult. Most lyrics are often un-dateable, and they appear in collections with no apparent organic unity. It is most likely many lyrics that survive today were widely recited in various forms before being written down. Evidence for this appears in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]''. Many of Chaucer's lines bear an uncanny resemblance to Middle English Lyrics.

== Survival ==

{{Archaeology-stub}}

Middle English Lyrics were not meant to be read or written down. Consequently, the few that survive are probably a very small sample of lyrics. Surviving Lyrics appear in [[Miscellanies]], notably the Harley 2253 manuscript. The lyrics often appear with many other types of works, including writings in other languages.

== External Links ==

[[Category:Radiometric dating]]

[http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/lyrics.htm Middle English Lyrics]

== Bibliography ==

Luria, Maxwell S. and Richard L. Hoffman. ''Middle English Lyrics.'' New York: Norton, 1974.<br>

<nowiki>(Large Selection of Lyrics with Selected Criticism)</nowiki>

Brown, Carleton Fairchild. ''English Lyrics of the XIIIth Century.'' Ed. Carleton Brown. Oxford: The Clarendon press, [1965, c1932].

Gray, Douglas. ''Themes and Images in the Medieval English Religious Lyric.'' London, Boston: Routledge and K. Paul, 1972.

Manning, Stephen. ''Wisdom and Number; Toward a Critical Appraisal of the Middle English Religious Lyric.'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1962.

Reiss, Edmund. ''The Art of the Middle English Lyric; Essays in Criticism.'' Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1972.

Speirs, John. ''Medieval English Poetry: the Non-Chaucerian Tradition.'' London: Faber and Faber, 1957.

Oliver, Raymond. ''Poems without Names; the English Lyric, 1200-1500.'' Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970.

Woolf, Rosemary. ''The English Religious Lyric in the Middle Ages.'' Oxford: Clarendon P., 1968.

[[Category:Middle English literature|Middle English Lyric]]