Dr. K. Shimabukuro

Dr. K. Shimabukuro

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Mary and the Devil- research update (revised and revised again)

I love digital archives. I just finished an article arguing that folklore is the foundation of the American Gothic, and specifically looked at original editions from Irving, Chesnutt, and Simms (non-mucked around with texts). Likewise, the British Library and their ever increasing digital archives are lovely. I couldn't do half the work I do from the States without them, or TEAMS.

The Internet often seems to have everything. So when I have a day liked yesterday when I can't find a single thing I need, banging my head against my desk seems a viable option.

I'm currently looking at medieval plays that illustrate Mary interceding on the part of sinners, negotiating for them, and facing off against the devil as an article, but also a larger part of my dissertation. However, reading The Mary Play from the N-Town Plays, does not show this (despite Price's work), Cox discusses demons/devils in general in the N-Town cycle which I'll use some of, but  Boyarin discusses the Theophilus legend in the South English Legendary, which I cannot find. That is, TEAMS has part of it but I cannot find the one with Theophilus in it.
http://www.godecookery.com/mtales/miracle1.jpg

Makes me long for clearer citations/indicators of sources. Actually, makes me long for OpenSource, online work where sources are hyperlinked.
What I did find:
What I need: medieval plays that show the Mary-Devil interactions/intercession.
What I seem to be missing:
  • Chester
Hours and hours yesterday yielded nothing. With my writing/research, I like to start with a close reading of the text, teasing out what I am discussing, and then historicize that text. So finding the original source text is important.
Originally, I focused on drama because a big part of my argument is that the folkloric devil is most often seen in drama, the genre of the people. But now I'm wondering if I need to expand my argument to Marian legends in general in order to find the texts I need.
Anyone have any references/digital archives of original sources they can point me to?

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