{"product_id":"graceful-narratives-rebecca-davis-9780197903476","title":"Graceful Narratives: Making Space and Time in Middle English Literature","description":"\u003cem\u003eGraceful Narratives\u003c\/em\u003e argues that the concept of grace functions as a form of literary theory in late-medieval English texts, generating dilated, deliberative narratives that resist linear plotting and create space for alternative outcomes. Drawing on theological, legal, and courtly contexts, Davis demonstrates that grace operates not merely as a thematic concern but as a formal principle that suspends temporal flow, disrupts predetermined plots, and enables narrative transformation. The book examines six canonical Middle English works in which grace plays a pivotal role: Chaucer's \u003cem\u003eTroilus and Criseyde\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Tale of Melibee\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Franklin's Tale\u003c\/em\u003e; Julian of Norwich's \u003cem\u003eRevelation of Love\u003c\/em\u003e; Langland's \u003cem\u003ePiers Plowman\u003c\/em\u003e; and \u003cem\u003eThe Castle of Perseverance\u003c\/em\u003e. Like lyric poetry, these graceful narratives resist temporal pressures associated with linearity and plottedness, forestalling closure and opening paths towards reconciliation and amendment. Reflections on grace in literary contexts produce expanded narratives featuring the imagery and terminology of dwelling as a refuge against linear temporality's demands. By examining how medieval writers used grace to theorize fiction, \u003cem\u003eGraceful Narratives\u003c\/em\u003e contributes to conversations about premodern fictionality. Thinking grace, this book shows, necessarily means thinking fiction, the contrary to fact, the \"what if?\" In its resistive and restorative cultural work, the graceful narrative emerges as a form of medieval speculative fiction, answering a critical intellectual and social need for deliberative space.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Rebecca Davis\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0197903479\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780197903476\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/25\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Rebecca Davis","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48874582114559,"sku":"9780197903476","price":120.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/graceful-narratives-rebecca-davis-9780197903476","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}