Gender and Genre in Medieval French Literature

ISBN-13: 9780521464949 / Angielski / Twarda / 1995 / 384 str.

Simon Gaunt; Michael Sheringham

Opis

This wide-ranging study explores the ideological framework of genre in Old French and Occitan literature by charting the relationship between ideology and gender in five key genres: the chansons de geste, courtly romance, the Occitan canso, hagiography and the fabliaux. Simon Gaunt offers new readings of canonical Old French and medieval Occitan texts such as the Chanson de Roland, Chretien de Troyes' Chevalier de la charrete, and lyrics by Bernart de Ventadorn. In addition, he considers many less well-known works and less familiar genres such as hagiography and the fabliaux. Drawing on contemporary feminist theory, he examines how masculinity, as well as femininity, is constructed in medieval French and Occitan texts, and he shows that gender is a crucial element in the formation of the ideologies that underpin medieval literary genres.

Recenzje

'… a fine study of five genres and one gender: masculinity … Gaunt offers a wealth of penetrating and balanced analyses, well-informed digests of earlier scholarship, unobtrusive plot outlines, and copious quotations with English translations.' The French Review

Spis treści

1. Monologic masculinity: the chanson de geste; 2. The knight meets his match: romance; 3. Troubadours, ladies and language: the canso; 4. Saints, sex and community: hagiography; 5. Genitals, gender and mobility: the fabliaux.