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Undoing Babel: The Tower of Babel in Anglo-Saxon Literature

Tristan Major

4.33 · Rating details · 3 ratings · 2 reviews

The Tower of Babel narrative is one of the most memorable accounts of the Bible, and its interpretative potential has produced a vast array of literary adaptations.

Undoing Babel is the first extensive examination of the development of the Babel narrative amongst Anglo-Saxon authors from late antiquity to the eleventh century. Tristan Major's illuminating and original insig ...more

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Hardcover, 312 pages

Published January 23rd 2018 by University of Toronto Press

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Jun 20, 2019 Kelly W. rated it really liked it

Shelves: academic-books

I first heard of this book when a friend mentioned it in conjunction with her job as an editorial assistant at a scholarly journal. Thus, it was already on my mind when I went to the big medieval studies conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan, so I bought it when I visited the Toronto stand. I’ve gotten more and more interested in the image/story of the Tower of Babel recently, due to a fantastic lecture I attended about Babel as a hyperobject. So, I was entirely thrilled that an extended study was d I first heard of this book when a friend mentioned it in conjunction with her job as an editorial assistant at a scholarly journal. Thus, it was already on my mind when I went to the big medieval studies conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan, so I bought it when I visited the Toronto stand. I’ve gotten more and more interested in the image/story of the Tower of Babel recently, due to a fantastic lecture I attended about Babel as a hyperobject. So, I was entirely thrilled that an extended study was devoted to it in the time period/subject area I study.

My favorite part of this book’s argument was the emphasis on Christian identity (ideally) transcending ethnic and linguistic boundaries. Major showed tension existing between diversity and unity, including how ethnic and linguistic difference could be a marker of Otherness while also being necessary for creating a Christian identity that was not limited to certain groups of people. These tensions, Major suggests, played out in allegorical and typological representations of the Tower of Babel and Pentecost. I liked this emphasis because it underscored how malleable scripture and identity can be, with authors adapting their source texts to suit their own ideological needs rather than deriving their beliefs from their sources. It was a fascinating dive into how the Anglo-Saxons saw themselves, particularly as people who were geographically and linguistically distant from mainland Europe, but also as people concerned with their place in Christendom.

To get the most out of this book, I recommend having some knowledge of both Latin and Old English so that the close readings later in the book will be more meaningful. I don’t think readers will need a background in Biblical lore or patristic/ecclesiastical traditions, as Major outlines each point clearly and includes an excerpt of the Babel narrative at the beginning of the book so that the reader knows what he’s working with. If I have any criticisms of this text, it would be that the central idea/image of the Tower of Babel seems to get lost at times - indeed, there are many times when Major writes “there are few references to the Tower of Babel” or something similar, which draws attention to the absence of what this book is supposed to be about. While I do love the analysis of attitudes towards linguistic diversity and the concept of unity, it seems like the book could have been organized around that idea rather than Babel itself. I also would have liked to see some analysis of the visual representation of Babel in the Old English Hexateuch (which is featured on the book cover), since it seems to me that it would be useful for an argument about Anglo-Saxon attitudes and literature. Overall, though, I learned a lot from this book, and I am very much interested in looking out for more ways that the Anglo-Saxons appropriated imagery from Jewish and Christian literary traditions. ...more

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Jul 09, 2018 Rob Chappell rated it it was amazing

This book provides readers with an excellent overview of how the Tower of Babel story from Genesis 11 was retold and interpreted by Anglo-Saxon authors of the 7th-11th centuries, who were writing in Latin and/or Old English. But beyond all that, the author also introduces readers to some of the major authors of Anglo-Saxon literature along the way, including a few that I had never heard of before! For anyone interested in learning more about Anglo-Saxon literature in general, and how biblical st ...more

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