A HISTORY of TRISTAN SCHOLARSHIP by ROSEMARY
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
A HISTORY OF TRISTAN SCHOLARSHIP by ROSEMARY PICOZZI B.A., University of Reading, 1^6k A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of German We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April, I969 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and Study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of German The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada Date 28th April 1?6° AB S TRAC T Although a few summaries of the results gained in certain limited areas of Tristan scholarship have appeared, a comprehensive historical study of its development has not yet been made. In this dissertation the ideas and achievements of successive generations of critics are presented and conclusions drawn as to the trends in intellectual history which account for the distinct changes in methods, attitudes and interests. The opening chapter discusses the theories on the origins of the medieval Tristran romances in oral and literary tradition. After examining the earliest speculations about the geographical birthplace of romance it then presents the views of the Romantics concerning the historical and mythological sources of the legend and the language of the first Tristan poem. As shown in the review of subsequent origin research, opinions about the oral diffusion became sharply divided; when this, the "insular-con• tinental debate," subsided, scholars turned their attention first to recon• structing the archetypal poem and later to interpretation of the extant material. The first of three chapters dealing with Gottfried's Tristan describes the recovery of manuscripts, studies of the transmission, and preparation of editions. The second surveys the changing patterns in Gottfried criticism up to the beginning of the twentieth century: after an enthusiastic reception among the early Romantics Gottfried's poem, though still admired by the minority which posited mythological origins, was condemned by most literary historians on grounds of immorality and blasphemy. Later critics were pre• occupied with eliciting the poet's biography from his work and assessing the extent of his dependence on Thomas of Brittany. The question of Gottfried's ii originality maintained its prominent position in twentieth-century inter• pretations, examined in the next chapter. To most critics the novelty in his treatment lay in the association of Tristan-love with religion, and the problems arising from this relationship were frequently discussed in terms of the medieval "Zeitgeist." Implicit throughout this study and elaborated in the conclusion are the links between Tristan scholarship and intellectual history. For example, the eighteenth-century idea of human nature influenced the early theories of origins; when the Enlightenment aversion to the medieval period had been overcome, the new interest in history, mythology and the age of chivalry among the Romantics accounted for some approaches to the material, but other attitudes (e.g., denigrations of Gottfried's poem and the lack of interest in producing a reliable edition) reflected current nationalistic tendencies and hostility towards the French—from whom Gottfried borrowed the theme. Later developments (source studies, genealogical research into manuscripts and extant versions, quasi-mechanical reconstructions, biographies) typified the scientific outlook of positivism. Gottfried's independence of Thomas, at first underplayed for political reasons, finally attracted attention in the twentieth century when interpretation became the primary concern among scholars. Both the general interest in finding an adequate definition of Tristan-love and the methods adopted in interpretations of Gottfried's amatory doctrine showed the marked impact exerted by "Geistesgeschichte" on literary criticism. Depth psychology and modern political ideologies (National Socialism and Marxism) have also determined the approach taken by some scholars. It appears that Tristan scholarship is now moving in new directions, for in recent research into the structure and symbolism of Gottfried's poem hypotheses about the metaphysical background have been displaced by intrinsic study of the work itself. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE One THE STUDY OF ORIGINS 1 I: The Early Theories on the Origin of Medieval Romance II: The Studies during the Early Nineteenth Century 10 A. Historical and Mythological Origins of the Legend (i) Historical Origins (ii) Mythological Origins 15 B. Language of the First Romance 19 III: The Influence of Positivism on Origin Research 23 A. The Insular-Continental Debate B. The Archetypal Tristan Romance 43 IV: The Influence of Geistesgeschichte on Origin Research ... .58 V: Conclusion 63 Two EDITIONS AND MANUSCRIPT CRITICISM OF THE TRISTAN ROMANCE BY GOTTFRIED VON STRASSBURG 66 I: 1777 - 1850 II: 1850 to the Present 73 III: Conclusion 86 Three GOTTFRIED CRITICISM IN THE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES 87 I: Admiration and Denigration A. Early Romantics B. "Lachmann School" 90 C. Mythological School 98 II: Positivistic Methods 10k A. Biographical Studies B. Source Studies :The Gottfried-Thomas Relationship..111 III: Conclusion 123 Four TWENTIETH-CENTURY INTERPRETATIONS OF GOTTFRIED'S TRISTAN 126 I: Survey of Interpretations II: Conclusion 179 Five CONCLUSION I83 NOTES 202 BIBLIOGRAPHY 235 APPENDICES A. Location of Complete Manuscripts of Gottfried's Tristan 2^k B. Comparison of the Editions of Gottfried's Tristan 255 CHAPTER ONE THE STUDY OF ORIGINS I The Early Theories on the Origin of Medieval Romance Prior to the appearance in I785 of the first edition of the Tristan poem by Gottfried von Strassburg''' familiarity with the story of Tristan and Isolde was gained—directly or indirectly—from German and French prose romances, for the MSS of the medieval metrical romances on the theme had 2 long since fallen into oblivion. The fifteenth-century German Prosaroman, 3 which was based on the Tristrant of Eilhart von Oberge, was first printed in lkQk in Augsburgj it continued to be printed into the seventeenth cen• tury, the last known edition appearing in Nuremberg in l66k. In 1578 the k romance was included in the Buch der Liebe, but this collection of prose romances had become so rare by the end of the eighteenth century that, when a new edition of the anthology was being prepared in 1809, only five copies were known to exist. The French roman en prose, a vast work composed ca. 1215-355 proved to be much more influential in spreading and perpetuating the story. It became so popular that numerous hand-written and printed reproductions were made into the sixteenth century. In 1*4-79 Sir Thomas Malory drew on and greatly reduced this version of the story for part of his Morte d'Arthur, which was first printed by William Caxton in Westminster in 1*4-85, and later became one of the main sources for English scholars and poets who took an interest in romance and chivalry. In addition, an abridged form of a sixteenth-century reworking of the roman en prose was given in I776 by the Comte de Tressan in the Bibliotheque 2 g Universelle des Romans, and again in the first volume of his Corps d'Extraits de Romans de Chevalerie, published in Paris in I782. When academic interest in the origins of romantic fiction first arose in the late seventeenth century, it was held that all romance originated in the same geographical area. The problem lay in deciding upon the correct location. The belief in a single point of radiation, which corresponded to the common assumption that climate influenced society and thus also the type of literature produced by that society, steadily gained strength during the eighteenth century. The ideas expressed by the pioneers in this area of research were usually included in discussions on the rise and customs of chivalry, because romance was considered to be the child of chivalry and also because the phenomenon of chivalry as a social institution aroused more interest than did the literary merits of the individual romances . Con• sequently, among the earliest scholars to foster the antiquarian spirit--men like Thomas Warton in England and La Curne de Sainte-Palaye in France- romances were regarded largely as social documents and pictures of manners. Moreover, by stressing the historico-social values of chivalric romances, such scholars could excuse their preoccupation with the medieval period. In the Age of Reason, the Middle Ages were commonly held in contempt as barbarous and primitive; as to medieval literature, "men of cold Fancies, and Philosophical Dispositions, object to this kind of Poetry, that it has not Probability enough to affect the Imagination."^ In Germany disdain for things medieval lasted until the late eighteenth century; indeed, since the Age of Humanism the term Mittelalter had implied "das, was zwischen der bewunderten Antike und der selbstgewissen Gegenwart als eine 'dunkle,' *barbarische,' 'gotische' Zwischenzeit Ubrig blieb."'''^ It is therefore 3 necessary to turn to England and France in order to discover early academic discussion of medieval literature and to find the first theories on the origins of romance. Three different theories on the geographical origins of romantic fiction became popular during this period: the Northern, the Eastern (or Arabian), and the Celtic. An early promoter of the Northern theory was William Temple, who was interested in medieval romance as a phenomenon deriving from the Gothic temperament. In his two essays "Of heroic virtue" and "Of poetry" (1690) he traced the spirit of chivalry and romantic honour, as well as the enchantments and the supernatural in medieval romance, to Gothic manners.