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Speaker: Kathryn Starkey (Edward Clark Crossett Professor of Humanistic Studies, Professor of German Studies)

Abstract: In this talk, I argue that textiles are central to the emerging poetics of medieval vernacular storytelling around 1200. Poets of this period frequently conceive of narrative texts and literary composition through analogies to textiles and textile work. But more than metaphors, textiles become active elements in the storytelling process: poets use them to open up narrative possibilities, create moments of irony, invite interpretation, and draw audiences more deeply into the world of the story. In this way, textiles function rhetorically—they help tell a good story. Though often dismissed as merely decorative, descriptions of textiles reward close attention, offering valuable insight into poetic thinking of the Middle Ages.