No, I’m not… Chaucer? The Arabic motif in Troilus and Criseyde and Pushkin’s ‘The Prophet’ [‘Prorok’]

The article discusses two works of literature: Troilus and Criseyde, a long poem written in the genre of courtly romance (1382–1386/1387) by G. Chaucer, and ‘The Prophet’ [‘Prorok’] (1826), a poem by A. Pushkin. The two works are compared due to a common motif: the opening of the chest and swapping of the heart as a sign of the person’s spiritual regeneration. In her comparative analysis of the two poems, the author attempts to identify their common source or the likelihood of direct contact — whether Pushkin had come across Chaucer’s work and borrowed the motif directly. As for the heart being replaced, it seems both poets may have been inspired by several biblical stories. Further analysis of the motif of the chest being opened suggests that the research should focus on the Arabic tradition alone and take into account the potential influence of Islamic religious texts on Pushkin as well as Chaucer. Relying on the available data about Russian and European relations with the Arabic world, the article hypothesises about the ways in which the motif in question could have reached each of the poets. The author names the Quran as the common genetic source of the two poems.

The Feminine Other: Monsters and Magic in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Monsters are perceived as humanity’s enemy that should be eradicated. However, based on Jeffrey Cohen’s Monster Theory (1997), monsters play an important role in understanding humanity’s fears and anxieties. Monstrosity hinges upon the binary opposition of the Self and the Other, in which the Other is seen as a threat to the Self. With this in mind, this article addresses the female monsters of two medieval texts: Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. This paper aims to examine the female monsters, Grendel’s mother and Morgan the Fay, as a cultural reference to unravel the patriarchal anxieties of the time. Grendel’s mother represents a threat to the homosocial hierarchal bonds of Medieval society. Meanwhile, Morgan the Fay signifies danger to knighthood, chivalry, and courtly romance. At the same time, this paper also aims to continue the critical analysis and literature of the female characters in both texts with a heavy emphasis on their Otherness.

Abschlussschwäche? Die closure des höfischen Romans zwischen Mediengeschichte und Kulturpoetik

The article deals with the closure of the, mostly Middle High German, courtly romance, taking as primary example Heinrich von Veldeke’s Eneide. ‘Courtly closure’ is defined as a slow and tenacious fading of narrative progression, by means of gradually transforming this progression into a virtually static state, namely, the description of an enduring courtly feast. It is argued that this way of bringing a romance or a novel to its end – unusual in the course of European literary history – is motivated by several factors. Amongst these, special attention is paid to media history (episodic narration, recital) and to cultural poetics (didactic qualities of the courtly romance).

Der ›Weg‹ der Erzählung

How do narrators of courtly romance use the semantics of ›Weg‹ (path, journey)? Building on numerous publications on the Weg-topic, this study ›The Path of Narration. Observations on Hartmann von Aue and Courtly Literature‹ discusses how authors, particularly Hartmann von Aue, use ›Weg‹ as code for storytelling. This can be linked to forms of semantic usage which reflect the process of reception, particularly in the case of Wolfram von Eschenbach, and those which describe a change in the semantics of value, particularly in the case of Gottfried von Straßburg.

How Venus Got Her Furs

This, particular study explores how the Middle Ages gave birth to sadomasochistic erotica; how a burgeoning literary tradition influenced patterns of sexuality and media across medieval Europe. The bulk of the following analysis is centered around Chrétien de Troyes’ Knight of the Cart, and it is aimed at the following questions: Can the origins of sadomasochistic erotica be traced to the courtly romance of Chrétien de Troyes? What were the social ramifications of courtly romance literature? To what extent does Chrétien’s writing depict sadomasochistic relations? How did it affect patterns of sexual behavior in medieval Europe? How did it impact women’s agency? How did the world of sadomasochistic erotica change after the Middle Ages? And likewise, how did its effect on society evolve over time?

Das Erbe des Lazarus

Following the resurrection of the Arthurian knight Erec at the castle of Limors, this article attempts to review the question of the religious ties of the courtly romance by investigating figurations of re-entering life. These typological ties, when considered in detail, turn out to be ambivalent precisely when the religious horizon appears particularly affirmative, as in the case of Limors. This gets especially palpable in connection with returnees who, like Lazarus and Erec, become ambiguous between religious wonder and judicial discussion. The article explores their interferences in a 13th-century Latin debate poem as well as in a key scene of the first vernacular Arthurian romance, which both equally glorify and disempower their heroes.

Hate Speech and French Mediaeval Literature

Hate speech is spoken or written word which expresses a hostile attitude of a dominating majority towards any kind of minority. The author analyses a few examples of hate speech in literary history and concludes that such a phenomenon is typical of The Song of Roland, whether uttered in a direct way or spoken between the lines. One will expect hate speech in epic and heroic poetry, less in the Troubadour poetry. Yet we come across this awkward characteristic even in their love poetry. To be quite clear, in the poetry of Bernart de Ventadorn. The last part of the article is about the courtly romance. The author concludes that hate speech can only be controlled by love, not any, but the love that makes one a better person, and which the Troubadours called fin’amors.

Between the Normative and the Performative: Sex, Parody, and Other (In)tractable Issues in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale

The article explores how Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales discusses human sexuality as a major thematic concern in both its normative and its performative dimension, and sex, an (in)tractable issue throughout the Middle Ages, as a core motif that helps the author to explore the extant tension between the human and the ideal. On the other hand, parody and audience/reader response are important instruments in the medieval poet’s strategy of approaching delicate matters in his pilgrims’ tales, which become readily apparent in the ‘order of play’ in which the tales come. The Miller disrupts the story-telling order because this disruption serves Chaucer’s purpose of questioning the validity of the courtly love concept through a parody of courtly romance, much like the poet’s purported distancing from the heretical views upon human sexuality expressed by the Miller can be decoded as an attempt to restore the balance of power between doctrinal inflexibility and humans’ timeless desire for the natural.