Reflections of Time in Three Medieval Works: "Yvain," the "Libro de Alexandre," and the "Libro de Buen Amor"

328 Pages·1979·12.5 MB·English

by  Karen-Jean Lacina-Munoz

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University
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300 I'M. ZEEB ROAD. ANN ARBOR. Ml <18106
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7925828
LACINA-MUNOZ, KAREN-JEAN
REFLECTIONS OF TIME IN THREE MEDIEVAL WORKS: "YVAIN,
THE "LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE," AND THE "LIBRO DE BUEN AMOR
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, PH.D., 1979
COPR. 1979 LACINA-MUNOZ, KAREN-JEAN
University
Microfilms
International 3oon zitnmiAo ann ambon. mi woe
© 1979
KAREN-JEAN LACINA-MUNOZ
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
1
CIP
Lac 1na—Munoz* Karen Jean*
Reflections of time in three medieval
works— Yvain* the Llbro de Alexandre*
and the L£bro de buen amor / Karen—Jean
Lacina—Munoz• 1979*
vlli* 312 leaves : ill* ; 29 cm*
Thesis— University of Kansas* French
and Italian*
Bibliography: leaves [294]-312*
1* Chhetien de Troyes* 12th century*
Chevalier au lyon* 2* Llbro de
Allxandre* 3* Ruiz* Juan* Arcipreste
de Hita* fl* 1343* Llbro de buen amor*
4* Time In literature* I* Title
Q
rn i a .ini -7ft snstia__ rrn* — — .........
REFLECTIONS OF TIME IN THREE MEDIEVAL WORKS: YVAIN,
THE LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE. AND THE LIBRO DE BUEN AMOR
by
Karen-Jean Lacina-Munoz
B.A., Lawrence College, 1960
M.A. , University of Kansas, 1969
t_ns
Submitted to the Department of French and
Italian, the Special Studies Program, and
the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Kansas in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy
Dissertation Committee:
REFLECTIONS OF TIME IN THREE MEDIEVAL WORKS: YVAIN,
THE LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE, AND THE LIBRO DE BUEN AMOR
by
Karen-Jean Lacina-Munoz
REFLECTIONS OF TIME IN THREE MEDIEVAL WORKS: YVAIN,
THE LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE, AND THE LIBRO DE BUEN AMOR
Table of Contents
PREFACE .................................................... i
CHAPTER ONE : MEDIEVAL ROMANCE...............................1
Some Modern Views of Romance.......................... 4
Romance in Some Medieval Contexts.....................11
A Questionable Definition............................. 15
A Structural Approach to Medieval Romance............ 17
CHAPTER TWO: TIME AND TEMPORAL STRUCTURE .......... 25
Time: An Essential Reality........................... 26
Some Approaches to "Time in Literature".............. 29
Method for the Analysis of Temporal Structure. . . . 45
CHAPTER THREE: TEMPORAL STRUCTURE IN YVAIN ............. 73
The Structural Problem .............................. 73
Temporal Structure .................................. 79
Conclusions........................................... 142
CHAPTER FOUR: TEMPORAL STRUCTURE IN
THE LIBRO DE ALEXANDRE.............................. 157
The Structural Problem.............................. 157
Temporal Structure...................................162
Conclusions........................................... 205
CHAPTER FIVE: TEMPORAL STRUCTURE IN
THE LIBRO DE BUEN AMOR..............................216
The Structural Problem..............................216
Temporal Structure..................................227
Conclusions........................................264
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS................................273
APPENDIX I: Distribution of verse forms in
the Libro De Buen Amor..............................289
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................ 294
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON TIME........................... 310
PREFACE
"Time is the soul of the world." "Time was created as
an image of eternity." "Even while we speak, envious time
has fled." "Time flies away and cannot be restored." "To
every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose
under the heaven . . . " "Can ye not discern the signs of the
Times?" "Nothing is ours except time." "Time is the greatest
innovator" and "the author of authors." "It is the wisest
who grieve most at loss of time." "Gather therefore the
roses whilst yet in prime . . . " "All in good time."1
Whether we agree most with the attitude toward time as
expressed by Pythagoras or Plato, by Vergil or Horace, by
the authors of the Old Testament or the New, by Seneca,
Bacon, Dante, Spenser, or Cervantes, we must take into account
the fact that all of these great thinkers, as well as count­
less others, have addressed the topic of Time. If we are to
learn from those who have preceded us, is it at all possible
to consider Time as irrelevant to the human condition, to
human action depicted in literature, or to that aspect of
human behavior called artistic thought and expression?
If the above aphorisms of our intellectual heritage to­
gether with such scientific achievements as those of Einstein
and Norbert Wiener in our own age are to be valued and appre­
ciated even in a general sense by students of the humanities,
then it is appropriate and even imperative that the study of
literature contribute to the intellectual integration of
diverse human endeavors by making explicit the relationship
of one with the other, such as that of science with art.
The focus here on Time itself is valid for the sake of
our intellectual well-being, at present so plagued by the
"despatialization" of the physical human environment and an
apparent acceleration of human time. If we cannot control
our "life space" through ecological knowledge, can we yet
hope to impose a peaceful order on our vital personal en­
vironment through temporal wisdom? A rhetorical question,
to be sure, but one I wish to pose in a general sense to the
reader of the following study.
From within the shadow of the great thinkers and artists
of the past, the present study will relate the nature of time
to three medieval literary masterpieces. Although Time may
be the "great counselor" or the "measure of greatness" or
even the "devourer of all things," we must concern ourselves
with its nature as it relates to diverse human expression.
The following study is but one attempt to articulate the re­
lationship between the real physical world and the realm of
artistic verbal expression in order that we might gain in­
sight into our own historical time and our own literary modes
of expression.
The following study sets forth the thesis that real
time is reflected and can be analyzed in three examples of
the medieval romance--a genre yet to be specifically defined
but often considered only in the light of fantasy. Frequently,
the firm basis in reality conveyed by the medieval romance
is simply taken for granted.
But how can real time be analyzed in three medieval
romances? Following the logic of scientific analysis, the
critical method employed here is based on the scientific
characteristics of time itself, a non-literary model. By
adapting these characteristics as categories for critical
analysis, it is possible to clarify the correspondence be­
tween real time and the literary modes of expression that
reflect time in a medieval masterpiece. The correspondence
between the characteristics of real time and the literary
modes that express them in each of these three works will
constitute the temporal structure of each. This analysis
will reveal which specific techniques of "ordering" (i.e.,
organizing) the literary material function to reflect real
time. Thus, the proof of the above thesis rests on two
aspects of this study: its method derived from the charac­
teristics of real time and the application of that method
to the three works selected: Yvain, the Libro de Alexandre,
and the Libro de Buen Amor.
There may be other dimensions of time per se in the
three works, albeit fictional modes that function to create
a totally imaginary or alien sense of time, or only partial
aspects of it. These dimensions will not be dealt with here.
The categories here established deal only with the charac­
teristics of real time to the extent that they may be veri­
fied in each text. This procedure certainly does not limit