The Middle English collection of saints’ lives known as the South English Legendary (13th–14th Century) is set apart by the markedly ‘local’ nature and aspect of its hagiography. In this article I identify and assess the reduction of characters and omission of proper names as a representative stylistic element that contributes to this localization. Taking the figure of St. Benedict as a case study, I contrast presentations found in the South English Legendary with those contained in St. Gregory the Great’s Dialogues (Latin, ca. end of 6th Century), Ælfric of Eynsham’s Catholic Homilies (Old English, ca. end of 10th century), and Jacobus de Voragine’s widely read and circulated Golden Legend (Latin, ca. mid-13th century). Ultimately, a case is made that the purposeful obscuring of specific identities enacts a contextual destabilization that allows Benedict’s life to be not only translated and condensed, but also localized.
ラナー et al. (Wed,) studied this question.