Machines of the Mind: Personification in Medieval Literature

Katharine Breen's book "Machines of the Mind" argues that medieval personifications should be understood as powerful tools for thought, helping us remember and manipulate complex ideas. She identifies three types of personification (Platonic, Aristotelian, and Prudentian) that correspond to positions in the medieval debate over universals and demonstrates how medieval writers applied personification with utility and subtlety, employing methods that serve different functions. The book offers insight for medievalists and scholars interested in literary character-building and gendered relationships.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 17 May 2021
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

In her groundbreaking work, "Machines of the Mind," Katharine Breen challenges the conventional interpretations of medieval personifications, proposing that they should be understood as powerful tools for thought rather than mere failed novelistic characters or instruments of heavy-handed didacticism. Breen argues that personifications are essential for remembering and manipulating complex ideas, allowing us to test them against existing moral and political paradigms. She identifies three distinct types of personification in medieval literature: Platonic, Aristotelian, and Prudentian, each corresponding to different positions in the rich and nuanced debate over universals.

Through a series of new readings of major authors and works, ranging from Plato to Piers Plowman, Breen illuminates how medieval personifications embody the full range of positions between philosophical realism and nominalism. She demonstrates that medieval writers applied personification with utility and subtlety, employing methods of personification as tools that serve different functions. By drawing upon Gregory the Great's reference to "machinae mentis," Breen shows that medieval writers used personification as a means to explore the complexities of the human mind and to convey complex ideas in a more accessible and engaging way.

"Machines of the Mind" offers valuable insights for medievalists working in the fields of religion, philosophy, and literature, as well as for scholars interested in literary character-building and gendered relationships among characters, readers, and texts beyond the Middle Ages. Breen's work demonstrates the rich and multifaceted nature of medieval personifications and their significance in shaping medieval thought and literature.

Weight: 548g
Dimension: 153 x 230 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226776590