The Idea of the Book in the Middle Ages: Language Theory, Mythology, and Fiction
Unbinding the Book: How Medieval Fiction Foretold the Death of Certainty
Jesse Gellrich’s The Idea of the Book in the Middle Ages is a profound and erudite exploration of how medieval culture conceptualized the "Book"—not merely as a physical manuscript, but as an all-encompassing metaphor for knowledge, language, divine order, and historical continuity. While not fiction in the traditional sense, the book takes on a literary narrative by analyzing the symbolic and structural function of the "Book" across disciplines, from theology and semiotics to architecture, music, and poetry. Through close readings of Dante’s Commedia and Chaucer’s works (The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, and The Canterbury Tales), Gellrich argues that medieval literature both inherited and subtly disrupted the epistemological authority embedded in the textual traditions of the time.
Central to Gellrich’s work is the theme of textuality as cultural ideology. The medieval Book, as he shows, was conceived not just as Scripture or a literary object, but as a microcosm of divine and natural order—a worldview shaped by Augustinian and Platonic traditions. He contrasts this with the emergence of writing (écriture) as a subversive force, drawing from modern theorists like Derrida and Foucault to question the mythologized stability of meaning.
Another dominant theme is the tension between imitation and interpretation. Gellrich convincingly demonstrates how fiction—especially in Dante and Chaucer—begins to question the sacred assumptions of textual finality, moving instead toward the indeterminacy of interpretation, reader agency, and narrative play. Mythology, in this sense, becomes not just a topic, but a method of reading.
Though this is a scholarly treatise and not a character-driven narrative, Gellrich does “characterize” major figures—both historical (Augustine, Aquinas, Isidore of Seville) and literary (Dante, Chaucer)—with depth and intellectual sympathy. These thinkers inhabit a conceptual landscape defined by monasteries, scriptoria, Gothic cathedrals, and universities, settings that reinforce the book’s argument about the embeddedness of textual ideology in the built and lived environment of the Middle Ages.
The book is not designed to be a page-turner in the conventional sense, but its sustained intellectual energy and ambitious synthesis make it highly engaging for readers interested in the history of ideas, medieval literature, or critical theory. The most gripping sections are Gellrich’s close readings of medieval texts, especially the chapters on The House of Fame and The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, where the disruption of inherited textual norms is dramatized through poetic ambiguity and narrative innovation.
Gellrich writes in a sophisticated, densely layered prose that reflects the complexity of his subject. His integration of medieval primary texts with 20th-century theory is both daring and rewarding, although it may be demanding for readers unfamiliar with either domain. Citations are thorough, and the interdisciplinary scope—spanning semiotics, theology, musicology, manuscript studies, and hermeneutics—is executed with rigor.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is its ability to bridge seemingly disparate traditions—medieval exegesis and poststructuralism—into a coherent intellectual argument. Gellrich’s treatment of language as both historical artifact and theoretical concept makes the book relevant to literary theorists and historians alike.
However, the density of the argument and the academic tone may be off-putting for general readers or those new to medieval studies. The absence of a unifying fictional narrative also means that those seeking character-driven storytelling will not find it here. Additionally, while Gellrich incorporates visual art and architecture into his analysis, these sections could have benefited from deeper visual-textual engagement.
The Idea of the Book in the Middle Ages achieves its goal of recontextualizing the medieval "Book" as a structuring cultural myth, akin to modern ideologies of totality and presence. It is a bold, scholarly work that speaks to debates in literary theory, historical epistemology, and medieval intellectual history. Readers engaged in Chaucerian or Dantean studies, or in the genealogies of textual thought, will find it indispensable.
Recommended for: Medievalists, theorists of textuality, graduate students in literature, and scholars interested in intersections between theology and language. It is less suited for casual readers or those seeking introductory material.
—N3UR4L Reviews
