The Beowulf Poet and His Real Monsters: A Trauma-Theory Reading of the Anglo-Saxon Poem

This book opens a new line of inquiry into the Old English poem, specifically trauma theory, which attempts to map the psychological typography of an author and his or her culture, that is, when the text appears to be wrought of traumatic experience. Indicators of a "trauma text" are narrative techniques often associated with postmodernism – expressly, intertextuality, repetition, a dispersed or fragmented voice, and a search for powerful language.