Guido Latré
Professor of English Literature and Culture
Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium
CURRICULUM VITAE
Guido Latré read English and Dutch Literature and Linguistics at Leuven University (Ph.D. Eng. Lit.,
1982). From 1983 to 2001, he taught English Literature at K.U.Leuven (Belgium). In June/July 1999, he
was a visiting professor at Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego (U.S.A.). In 2001, he became a
Senior Lecturer at Université Catholique de Louvain, where he is currently a professor of English
Literature and Culture. His main focus for research is on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. From 199096, he was a member of the Board of Governors at Westminster College in Oxford. From 1999 to 2004 he
coordinated a large-scale project on early English Bibles printed in Antwerp, and he is a Member of the
Advisory Board of Reformation. In 2002, he was awarded the Churchill Medal for his research and
teaching of English language, literature and culture in a European context. He has been involved in the
production of several documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 (including the BBC docudrama Devil's
Word: The Battle for and English Bible (script by Peter Ackroyd).
A SELECTION OF PUBLICATIONS
Books and Articles
"Yelping for Arthur: Adventure and (Meta)fiction in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,"
in Willy Van Hoecke, Gilbert Tournoy en Werner Verbeke (ed.), Arthurus Rex, vol 2:
Acta Conventus Lovanienses 1987, Mediaevalia Lovaniensia, Series I, Studia XVII,
Leuven: Universitaire Pers, 1991, pp. 186-203.
Abstract:
For a mediaeval author, the Gawain-poet shows a remarkable awareness of metafiction in his Arthurian
masterpiece. This article discusses in detail the images and narrative developments in which, through a
procedure of mirror text (“mise-en-abyme”), the author comments on the tension between realistic
awareness and fictional dream. Parallels are drawn in the end between Cervantes’ and the Gawain-poet’s
perception of the chivalric ethos and aspirations.
"The 1535 Coverdale Bible and Its Antwerp Origins," in Orlaith O'Sullivan (ed.), The
Bible as Book: The Reformation, London: The British Library and Oak Knoll Press, 2000,
pp. 38 b,c,d and pp. 89-102.
Of all Latré’s publications, this one has attracted most international attention. It has been accepted as
establishing definitively the place of origin of what is arguably the most influential book ever published in
the English language: the Coverdale Bible, which is largely Tyndale’s work and which, in slightly adapted
versions from 1538 onwards, exerted a profound influence on the formation of the English language and
nation.
In the Exodus chapters of this Bible, there is an illustration of the Tabernacle in which Dutch words occur
(Oost, Suiid, Ijsachar). This had hitherto escaped the attention of the bibliographers, who were confused
about the place of origin of this book (Zurich? Cologne? Marburg?). It now appears that both its
preparation and its printing were done in Antwerp. The article gives an idea of the typographical
circumstances allowing Coverdale, pupil of Tyndale, to print his Bible. The ground is now clear for a
further investigation of the intellectual climate in which this monumental work originated (humanism,
religious reform, and new “Erasmian” linguistic and literary interpretations).
The new National Dictionary of Biography (NDB), which will appear shortly, has already accepted this
new definition of the place of publication of the 1535 Coverdale.
"But What Does the Fleming Say?: The Two Flemish Proverbs and Their Contexts in
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales," in Leeds Studies in English (March 2001, special volume
on mediaeval literature, New Series 32), pp. 255-73.
This article demonstrates the subtle game Chaucer plays with two Flemish proverbs and their contexts, and
leads to a further appraisal of Chaucer’s humour. It will appear at the beginning of 2001 in the reputable
refereed journal mentioned above.
Professor Sarah Carpenter (Professor of Mediaeval Studies, Bristol University) has written the following:
“Dr Latré’s article . . . is particularly welcome, and judges the audience of the volume with sensitivity. He
blends the necessary precise and scholary philological detail with such humour as his narrative unfolds, that
a subject with some potential for dryness is a joy to read.”
"More than an Order of Words: Prayer as an Analogon for Poetry in T.S. Eliot's Four
Quartets," in Yoko Wada (ed.), Perigrinator: Essays on Literature in English, Tokyo:
Shohakusha Press, 2003, pp. 72-85.
Two metaphoric layers in Eliot’s masterpiece are related to each other systematically. Implicitly, Eliot
appears to suggest a synthesis between the ever-changing formal patterns of the poem, and the eternal
truths of its contents. This unity between the opposite poles is also applied to the inspired prayer.
This article will appear shortly in a publication associated with Prof. Akira Yasukawa, eminent specialist
on the Japanese interests of the modernist Ezra Pound, who exerted a strong influence on Eliot.
Tyndale’s Testament. Turnhout/ New York, 2002 (195 large format pages).
Guido Latré is one of the three editors of this standard work on the Antwerp context of the most important
years of the English Bible translator William Tyndale. Co-editors: Paul Arblaster and Gergely Juhasz.
"Was van Haemstede a Direct Source for Foxe?: On le Blas' Pijnbanck and Other
Borrowings," in David Loades (ed.), John Foxe at Home and Abroad, Aldershot and
Burlington: Ashgate,2004, pp. 151-55.
This is a significant contribution to a major publication of the British Academy John Foxe Project. It
reveals the hitherto underestimated literary and literal influences the Low Countries martyrologist
Haemstede had on John Foxe's famous Book of Martyrs. Together with the Book of Comman Prayer and
above all the Bible, Foxe's book is considered to be one of the most influential publications in the context
of the building of the English nation. The argument developed by Latré is based on a philological analysis
of words and phrases Foxe borrows from Haemstede, and on the narratological and stylistic features of the
texts as a whole. The most convincing direct borrowings and parallels had never been pointed out before.
In collaboration with Kirby Joris, "Lectures culturelles de la Bible dans les pays de
langue anglaise," Revue théologique de Louvain, 38, 2007, pp. 352-372.
An investigation of readings in the Bible in popular culture, especially in the U.K. and the U.S.
Contributions to Documentaries
Devil’s Words: The Battle for an English Bible. Docu-drama on Tyndale’s Bible, in
collaboration with the BBC. Script: Peter Ackroyd. Producer: Tim Niel.
Guido Latré’s contribution includes elaborate scholarly advice, most of which has been taken on board in
the script; the choice of locations for filming in Antwerp and Vilvoorde; and interviews. Nominated best
BBC programme of March 2003.
William Tyndale: His Life, His Legacy. The History of the English Bible Series,
Tennessee: Avalon Press, 2005.
DVD based on research by and interviews with Guido Latré and Emeritus Professor
David Daniell (honorary fellow Hertford College Oxford; Chairman of the Tyndale
Society), hosted by Dr. William H. Noah.
Guido Latré contributed in conjunction with the Erasmus House, Anderlecht. The DVD received The Gold
Special Jury Award of the Worldfest International Film Festival, 2005.
The Battle for the English Bible. Docudrama for Channel 4 (Easter 2007). Producer
David Wilson (Pioneer Productions).
With Archbishop Rowan Williams, Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, readings by Kenneth Brannagh, and
others, and recorded scenes in Antwerp based on interviews with and scholarly preparation by Guido Latré.
The American version lasts only one hour. The U.K. version (lasting two hours) has interviews and
comments by journalist Rod Liddle.