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The arenga in the literature of medieval Spain PDF

263 Pages·2007·0.803 MB·English
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THE ARENGA IN THE LITERATURE OF MEDIEVAL SPAIN Michelle Leroux Gravatt A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Languages (Spanish). Chapel Hill 2007 Approved by Dr. Frank Domínguez Dr. Lucia Binotti Dr. Carmen Hsu Dr. Rosa Perelmuter Dr. Ennio Rao UMI Number: 3257478 Copyright 2007 by Gravatt, Michelle Leroux All rights reserved. UMI Microform3257478 Copyright2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 © 2007 Michelle Leroux Gravatt ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Michelle Leroux Gravatt: The Arenga in the Literature of Medieval Spain (Under the direction of Dr. Frank Domínguez) The military harangue, known in Spanish as the arenga, enables a commander to motivate his men before combat and can be found from ancient times to present in historical and literary descriptions of battles. “The Arenga in the Literature of Medieval Spain” examines the characteristics and role of the military harangue in Spain’s literary texts from a variety of perspectives: rhetorical appeals, themes, effectiveness, eloquence, structure, and similarities with other medieval rhetorical arts. The study first defines what constitutes an arenga and identifies its place within rhetoric (I. Defining the Harangue: The Arenga in Rhetoric). It then looks at harangues originating from Antiquity, examining Virgil’s examples and those found in a medieval Spanish translation of Thucydides (II. Harangues from Classical Texts). Finally, it studies examples found in Spanish poetry and prose, dedicating two chapters to the most important harangues written in Spain during the Middle Ages (III. Thirteenth-Century Spanish Literary Arengas; IV. Fifteenth-Century Spanish Literary Arengas). The concluding chapter (V. Conclusion) is followed by an Appendix containing the full text of each harangue, a Works Cited, and a Selected Bibliography for further research. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ...........................................................................................................................vi Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1 Chapter I. Defining the Harangue: The Arenga in Rhetoric ....................................................... 9 A. The Medieval Council Debate versus the Arenga ............................................. 13 B. Medieval Political Harangues versus the Arenga .............................................. 15 C. Appeals .............................................................................................................. 20 D. Themes .............................................................................................................. 21 E. Successfulness in Terms of Effectiveness and Eloquence ................................. 28 F. Structure ............................................................................................................. 31 II. Harangues from Classical Texts ............................................................................. 37 A. Heredia’s Translation of the History of the Peloponnesian War ....................... 37 B. Virgil’s Aeneid ................................................................................................... 66 III. Thirteenth-Century Spanish Literary Arengas ...................................................... 78 A. Libro de Alexandre ............................................................................................ 78 B. Cantar de Mio Cid ........................................................................................... 115 C. The Poema de Fernán González ..................................................................... 126 IV. Fifteenth-Century Spanish Literary Arengas ...................................................... 151 A. El Victorial ...................................................................................................... 151 B. Crónica de don Álvaro de Luna ...................................................................... 177 C. Cárcel de amor ................................................................................................ 193 V. Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 210 Appendix ................................................................................................................... 215 Works Cited............................................................................................................... 249 Selected Bibliography ............................................................................................... 255 v List of Tables Table 1 - Appeals and Themes in Heredia's Translated Harangues ........................................ 65 Table 2 - Appeals and Themes in the Aeneid's Harangues ...................................................... 76 Table 3 - Appeals and Themes in the LdeA's Harangues ...................................................... 113 Table 4 - Appeals and Themes in the CMC's Harangues ...................................................... 126 Table 5 - Appeals and Themes in the PFG's Harangues ....................................................... 149 Table 6 - Appeals and Themes in El Victorial's Harangues .................................................. 176 Table 7 - Appeals and Themes in the CAL's Harangues ....................................................... 193 Table 8 - Appeals and Themes in the Cárcel de amor's Harangue ....................................... 209 vi Introduction The military harangue, known in Spanish as the arenga, is the motivational speech given by a commander before combat.1 As such, it has become a set-piece within literary and historical depictions of battles from ancient times to present. Yet when most scholars investigate texts containing harangues, their treatment of the speeches is superficial in respect to their overall study of the works that contain them. Furthermore, while there have been studies that have reviewed the harangue in terms of its historical veracity, of how its themes reveal information about combat psychology, and of how it serves to portray the character of its speaker, a study of the literary harangue in and of itself is lacking. For example, how do we classify it in terms of rhetoric? What types of appeals do its speakers employ? What topics are presented to their audiences, and are certain themes more favored than others in literary texts? Can we identify if the author considered the harangue to be successful, either rhetorically or practically? Is there an identifiable structure, and does this correspond to any of the rhetorical arts of the time period in which it was composed? Are literary harangues filled with literary devices, or are they simplistic and straight-forward, realistically portraying a speech made under combat conditions? Finally, and most importantly, what is the harangue’s importance in literary works, and how does it contribute to understanding the texts in which it is found? These questions must be understood before we can fully understand the concept of the literary harangue. However, as this set-piece spans centuries of world literature, an 1 For the sake of variation, I use the terms arengas, harangues, military speeches, and exhortations to describe the same phenomenon. investigation into its various manifestations is far more than can be accomplished in one dissertation. Thus, I have selected the literature of a time period and country in which wars and battles provided a natural and abundant inspiration for a variety of texts, that of medieval Spain. Hence, this investigation will focus on Spain’s medieval arengas from a variety of perspectives: rhetorical appeal, theme, effectiveness, eloquence, structure, and the literary devices employed. Additionally, we will also look at the influence of medieval rhetorical arts on the arenga, noting similarities as well as distinguishing traits. In order to demonstrate the versatility of the literary harangue, this study will review examples found in works representing different genres and different centuries. We will begin by understanding the tradition that the medieval arenga inherited from Antiquity by studying the rules of classical rhetoric that might have influenced the composition of the harangue as well as by examining examples found in Virgil’s Aeneid and Fernández Heredia’s fourteenth century translation of Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. From the thirteenth century, we will look at the arenga in Spanish poetry, analyzing the Libro de Alexandre and the Poema de Fernán González (examples from the mester de clerecía) as well as the Cantar de Mio Cid (an example of the mester de juglaría). From the fifteenth century, we will analyze the arenga in Spanish prose as it is found in the personal chronicles of El Victorial and La crónica de don Álvaro de Luna as well as in the sentimental novel Cárcel de amor. The findings of these investigations will then be summarized in the concluding chapter. * In Antiquity, the harangue was a staple of all types of texts dealing with war and warfare. Theodore Burgess notes that there are over forty examples in Greek literature alone 2 and holds that it was “[t]he most distinctive, fully developed, and persistent single type of speech among historians” (209).2 He explains that the high quantity of the speeches in Greek historical texts stems not only from the importance of the speech in Greek society but also from its effectiveness in displaying the author’s rhetorical skills (202). Thus, the arenga was certainly not a medieval invention, and classical texts that contained harangues, such as the Aeneid and the History of the Peloponnesian War, were available to influence medieval readers and writers. Despite its literary value, when scholars discuss the harangue, they tend do so in terms of historiography, attempting to identify its role in portraying historical events and debating whether specific harangues can be considered realistic or fictional. The ancient Greeks themselves were not immune from this very topic, as Burgess’s study discusses their perceptions of the exhortation’s role within histories. Additionally, modern scholars, such as Mogens Herman Hansen and W. Kendrick Pritchett have argued about the realism of several harangues, with Pritchett believing that some were actually given and Hansen suggesting that they were later fictional creations written for historiography’s sake, rather than rhetorical compositions made by generals in battle. This juxtaposition of history and the harangue is also found within medieval studies. In her investigation on medieval rhetoric and reality, Ruth Morse discusses the harangue in the context of medieval historians’ penchant for patterns and the influence of classical works. She contends that medieval writers often used ancient texts as exemplary models and drew upon existing topoi and verbal ornaments to reflect rhetorical skill in their pieces. Morse observes this type of borrowing within harangues, noting that the popular theme of arousing 2 In his investigation Burgess discusses the following: Xenophon, Thucydides, Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Dio Cassius, Appian, Arrian, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Herodianus, Theophylactus, and Josephus. 3

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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.