Marie de France: A Critical Companion PDF
Preview Marie de France: A Critical Companion
Gallica Volume 24 Marie de France a critical coMpanion Gallica iSSn 1749–091X General editor: Sarah Kay Gallica aims to provide a forum for the best current work in medieval French studies. literary studies are particularly welcome and preference is given to works written in english, although publication in French is not excluded. Proposals or queries should be sent in the first instance to the editor, or to the publisher, at the addresses given below; all submissions receive prompt and informed consideration. professor Sarah Kay, department of French, new York University, 13–19 Univer- sity Place, 6th floor, New York, NY 10003, USA the editorial director, Gallica, Boydell & Brewer ltd., po Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk ip12 3dF, UK Previously published titles in this series are listed at the end of this volume. Marie de France a critical coMpanion Sharon KinoShita and peGGY MccracKen d. S. BreWer © Sharon Kinoshita and peggy Mccracken 2012 All Rights Reserved. except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The right of Sharon Kinoshita and Peggy McCracken to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the copyright, designs and patents act 1988 First published 2012 d. S. Brewer, cambridge iSBn 978–1–84384–301–6 d. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer ltd po Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk ip12 3dF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer inc. 668 Mt hope avenue, rochester, nY 14620, USa website: www.boydellandbrewer.com a catalogue record for this title is available from the British library the publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of Urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate papers used by Boydell & Brewer ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests printed in Great Britain by cpi Group (UK) ltd, croydon, cr0 4YY contentS preface vii note on editions ix 1. introduction: the World of Marie de France 1 2. communication, transmission, and interpretation: literary 17 history 3. courtly love and Feudal Society: historical context 51 4. Movement and Mobility: plot 113 5. Bodies and embodiment: characters 143 6. repetition and the art of Variation: narrative techniques 173 7. posterity: the afterlives of Marie’s Works 201 Further reading 219 index 225 preFace this Companion is intended for all those interested in the works of Marie de France – students, teachers, and general readers as well as scholars. Our goal has been to provide a multifaceted overview of this influen- tial author, combining a reconsideration of the Lais with an introduc- tion to her lesser-known works, the Ysopë (Fables) and the Espurgatoire seint Patriz, and some attention to the more controversially attributed Vie seinte Audree. to do this, we set out to rethink standard questions such as those of origins, context, plot, character, structure, and influence through categories (such as authorship and translation) that seemed to us central to the consideration of medieval literature in general, as well as those (such as space/movement and embodiment) that have special resonance for the texts of Marie de France in particular. We hope in this way to have offered an integrated view that takes account both of the unity of Marie’s oeuvre and of the distinctiveness of the individual texts. the critical literature on Marie de France is vast, and our under- standing of her texts is informed and shaped by our own reading of the rich, learnèd, and thoughtful work of our colleagues and predecessors. the studies mentioned in our text, notes, and “Further reading” guide are those that have especially influenced our thinking here or that provide particularly focused discussions of the topics under consideration. Glyn S. Burgess’s annotated bibliographies (listed in the first section of the “Further reading” guide) remain an indispensable point of departure for anyone interested in Marie scholarship. Finally, the collaborative nature of this work has been one of the most formative and pleasurable aspects of this scholarly aventure. We first conceived of the idea of thinking collaboratively about Marie de France many years ago, and we thank the editor of Gallica for giving us a forum in which to do so. this project is the result of a constant stream of email exchanges, punctuated by intense working sessions in ann arbor, Santa cruz, and various conference venues. one of us took the lead in the writing of each chapter, and readers acquainted with the authors’ previous work will undoubtedly recognize some familiar interests and viii preFace styles. nevertheless, each chapter is the product of long discussion and interchange, making the book much different from and, we think, better than what either of us might have written on our own.
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