Medieval narrative and modern narratology: subjects and objects of desire
1990; Association of College and Research Libraries; Volume: 27; Issue: 09 Linguagem: Inglês
10.5860/choice.27-5029
ISSN1943-5975
Tópico(s)Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies
ResumoEvelyn Vitz's book, which began as a series of independent articles, includes chapters on a wide variety of medieval genres autobiographical apologia, dream allegory, chanson de geste, saint's life, and short tale from Abelard's Historia Calamitatum Guillaume de Lords' Roman de la Rose. Her studies embrace both well-known works like the Lais of Marie de France, and less-studied pieces such as La Fille du Comte de Ponthieu. In each study, Vitz is preoccupied with different aspects of the self. The thread unifying these very different narratives is set out in the introductory essay: to a striking degree each genre specializes in certain relations among potential subjects in certain kinds of desire as providing motivation and closure the narrative (6). In order approach medieval representations of the self, she makes use of narratological models (particularly those outlined by Greimas and Todorov), which nevertheless prove themselves unequal the task. One of the striking features of this book is the author's critique of the models that she uses: in applying modern models medieval narratives, Vitz manages expose much of the ideological bias implicit in the supposedly neutral analysis of structure. As she confronts contemporary
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