French Studies 74
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74 French Studies LATE MEDIEVAL LITERATURE By Leslie C. Brook, University of Birmingham 1. Narrative Genres epic. R. Colliot, ‘Le personnage de Renier dans les Enfances Renier: romanesque et conformisme’, PRIS-MA, 12:117–32, demonstrates how the poem reflects and recasts commonplace epic themes, with an overriding desire by the hero throughout to discover his proper lineage and be worthy of it. M.-F. Notz, ‘Nature et surnaturel dans Tristan de Nanteuil’, Actes (Groningen), 77–82, analyses the eVect of the mixture of epic and romance motifs in this lengthy, complex poem. L. Crist, ‘Baudouin de Flandres et le ‘‘Deuxie`me Cycle de la Croisade’’’, ib., 141–50, re-examines the evidence for connecting the fragment of this lost poem to the cycle, and reverts to his earlier opinion that there is no connection. M. Malfait-Dohet, ‘La fonction de la baˆtardise dans la de´finition du he´ros e´pique du Deuxie`me Cycle de la Croisade’, ib., 167–76, selects two chansons within the cycle, Baudouin de Sebourc and the Baˆtard de Bouillon, and analyses the diVering reactions to their condition by the two heroes, raising the question of the social, political, and moral issues involved. L. Brook, ‘Roland devant le monde sarrasin dans l’Entre´e d’Espagne’, ib., 209–16, concentrates on an analysis of Roland’s fight against Ferragu and his journey to the Near East, which mark two distinct stages in the presentation of R. as a hero. L. Zarker Morgan, ‘The ‘‘narrator’’ in Italian epic: Franco- Italian tradition’, ib., 481–90, examines the diVerent roles of the narrator in five texts (Geste Francor, Aliscans, Gui de Nanteuil, Entre´e d’Espagne, and its continuation), and links her findings with later Italian developments as typified by Ariosto. H.-E. Keller, ‘La chanson de geste en prose et l’amour courtois’, ib., 375–82, looks at the attitudes towards love in the various parts of the Geste de Garin de Monglane en prose, and observes that courtly love was still flourishing in a developed form at the Burgundian court in the late 15th c., most notably in the section of text which traces the growth of the love of Roland and Aude. A. Moisan, ‘Les traditions rolandienne et turpini- enne dans les Croniques et conquestes de Charlemagne de David Aubert’, ib., 399–408, shows that this 15th-c. prose adaptation mixes the poetic tradition of the later versions of the Roland with that of the Turpin chronicle, with adjustments by A. to make the story coherent and in conformity with the tastes of his day. The Old French Crusade Cycle, Vol. X: Godefroi de Buillon, ed. Jan Boyd Roberts, [Tuscaloosa], Alabama U.P., xxvi + 147 pp., is the final volume in the series, and consists of an abbreviated prose version of the cycle; the introduction Late Medieval Literature 75 places the text within the context of the cycle and examines the Franco-Picard language. romance. Alexandre du Pont, Le Roman de Mahomet, ed. Yvan G. Lepage, Leuven-Paris, Peeters, ix + 173 pp., is an update of L.’s earlier edition (1977), with the Latin text on which the French version is based replaced by a modern French translation, together with a good introduction and detailed notes on the text. M. Simo´, ‘Las inserciones lı´ricas en el Meliacin de Girart d’Amiens’, CN, 55:211–32, compares the lyric insertions with those of Guillaume de Dole and the Roman de la Violette and finds that in Meliacin they form part of the narrative structure itself, as the romance is largely a commentary on lyric poetry, whereas in the other two romances the insertions were of a more decorative, literary nature. P. Dembowski, ‘Meliador de Jean Froissart, son importance litte´raire: le vrai dans la fiction’, EF, 32.1:7–19, defends this last Arthurian verse romance against Long- non’s view of its incoherence by demonstrating its overall structure and the author’s desire to present a European view of chivalry, upholding the old standards, and thereby producing a real reflection of the aspirations of the nobility of the late 14th c.; while M. Stanesco, ‘Les lieux de l’aventure dans le roman franc¸ais du moyen aˆge flamboyant’, ib., 21–34, finds that with rare exceptions, such as the Histoire des Seigneurs de Gavre, the late medieval romance, from Perceforest onwards, tends to retain a poetic, abstract geography rather than one which reflects reality, despite a growing awareness and knowledge of the real world. J. Taylor, ‘Courtly patronage subverted: Lancelot en prose, Petit Jehan de Saintre´’, MedRom, 19, 1994[1996]:277–92, shows, by a close comparison between Lancelot’s treatment by Guinevere and Saintre´’s by the Dame des Belles Cousines, how La Sale brings romance more into the real world and explores Saintre´’s need to emancipate himself from the woman’s influence and assume a masculine chivalric identity. S. Carden, ‘‘‘Forment pensifz ou lit me mis’’: le songe dans le Livre du Cuer d’Amours espris’, LR, 49, 1995[1996]:21–36, examines the overall dream structure and the interior dreams and their eVects, concluding that Rene´ d’Anjou’s purpose was to fix his personal experience for all time through literary composition. 2. Poetry R. O’Gorman, ‘Le Dit de la Rose: dit alle´gorique en forme de prie`re en l’honneur de la Vierge’, MA, 102:57–71, 217–27, provides an analysis and edition of this 168-line poem, which contains an incipit of a Latin hymn as the last line of each stanza. S. Bliggenstorfer, ‘Eustache Deschamps et la satire du ventre plein’, Banquets, 357–70,.