The Conspiracy of Allusion: Description, Rewriting, and Authorship from Macrobius to Medieval Romance

336 Pages·1999·15.599 MB·English

by  Douglas Kelly

Chrétien de Troyes’s reference to Macrobius
on the art of description is indicative of the
link between the vernacular literary tradition
of rewriting and the Latin tradition of imita­
tion. Crucial to this study are writings that
bridge the span between elementary school
exercises in imitation and the masterpieces of
the art in Latin and French. The book follows
the development of the medieval art of re­
writing by imitation through Macrobius and
commentaries on Horace’s Art of Poetry and
then applies it to the interpretation of works
on the Trojan War, consent in love and mar­
riage, and lyric and vernacular insertions.
Douglas Kelly, Ph. D. (1962) in French, Uni­
versity of Wisconsin-Madison, is Professor
Emeritus of French and Medieval Studies
there. He has published extensively on medi­
eval literature, especially on medieval poetics
and its use for the interpretation of French
and Latin writing.
THE CONSPIRACY OF ALLUSION
STUDIES IN THE HISTORY
OF
CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
EDITED BY
HEIKO A. OBERMAN, Tucson, Arizona
IN COOPERATION WITH
ROBERT J. BAST, Knoxville, Tennessee
HENRY CHADWICK, Cambridge
BRIAN TIERNEY, Ithaca, New York
ARJO VANDERJAGT, Groningen
VOLUME XCVII
DOUGLAS KELLY
THE CONSPIRACY OF ALLUSION
THE CONSPIRACY OF ALLUSION
DESCRIPTION, REWRITING, AND AUTHORSHIP FROM
MACROBIUS TO MEDIEVAL ROMANCE
BY
DOUGLAS KELLY
BRILL
LEIDEN • BOSTON • KÖLN
1999
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kelly, Douglas.
The conspiracy of allusion : description, rewriting, and
authorship from Macrobius to medieval romance / by Douglas Kelly.
p. cm. — (Studies in the history of Christian thought, ISSN
0081-8607 ; v. 97)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 9004115609 (alk. paper)
1. Literature, Medieval—History and criticism. 2. Classical
literature—Adaptations—History and criticism. 3. Macrobius,
Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius—Influence. 4. Macrobius, Ambrosius
Aurelius Theodosius—Allusions. 5. Literature, Medieval—Classical
influences. 6. Romances—History and criticism. 7. Description
(Rhetoric) 8. Rhetoric, Medieval. 9. Authorship. 10. Poetics.
I. Title. II. Series.
PN681.5.K45 1999
809’.02—dc21 99-41484
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufhahme
Kelly, Douglas:
The conspiracy of allusion : description, rewriting and authorship
from Macrobius to medieval romance / by Douglas Kelly. - Leiden ;
Boston ; Köln : Brill, 1999
(Studies in the history of Christian thought ; Vol. 97)
ISBN 90-04—11560-9
ISSN 0081-8607
ISBN 90 04 11560 9
© Copyright 1999 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
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PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
Ausus idem.
(Horaee)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface.......................................................................................... xi
Introduction................................................................................. 1
Chapter One Macrobius in the High Middle Ages.............. 13
Macrobius’s Contextuad Environment in the Middle Ages 15
Manuscripts........................................................................ 16
Library Catalogues............................................................. 20
Anthologies, Florilegia, and libri manuales......................... 23
References to the Saturnalia............................................... 25
Appendix: Saturnalia Manuscripts to the Early Thirteenth
Century............................................................................... 33
Chapter Two Macrobius on the Art and Modes of
Description.............................................................................. 36
The Description of Erec’s Coronation Robe....................... 36
Ethos and Pathos in Description.......................................... 38
Description in Latin, with Special Reference toM acrobius 42
The Descriptive Model as Archetype: Imitation and Emu­
lation ................................................................................... 49
The Saturnalia's Writing Program.......................................... 51
A Model for Original Description........................................ 55
Author and Writer (auctor-imitator): The Agents of
Description.................................................................... 56
From Mutuatio to Mutatio: The Stages in Description..... 60
Invention (inventio).......................................................... 66
Reordering {ordo)............................................................ 67
The Four Species of Mutatio......................................... 71
Small Units of Discourse............................................. 73
Reception................................................................................ 76
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Three Bridge Works in and between the Medieval
Latin and Vernacular Traditions.......................................... 79
Description as Rewriting from Macrobius to the High
Medieval Commentaries on Horace................................ 81
Medieval Models of Description........................................... 87
Description in Classroom Compositions.............................. 93
Twelfth-Century Commentaries on Horace’s Art of Poetry... 97
Bridge Works in Medieval Poetics........................................ 102
Description as Topical Invention......................................... 105
Imitation and Allusion in the French Tradition................. 106
French versus Latin Rewriting.............................................. 114
Chapter Four Troy in Latin and French: Joseph of Exeter’s
Ylias and Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie.............. 121
Description in Joseph’s Ylias................................................... 122
First Author and Rewriter (auctor-imitator)........................ 128
Selection (imutuatio).............................................................. 129
Adaptation (imutatio).................................................................131
Implied Audiences............................................................. 144
Description in Benoît’s Troie.................................................. 145
First Author and Rewriter (<auctor-imitator)........................ 150
Selection {mutuatio).............................................................. 153
Adaptation [mutatio)............................................................ 155
Implied Audiences............................................................. 169
Chapter Five The Issue and Topics of Consent in Eneas,
Erec, and the Bel Inconnu.......................................................... 171
Consent as a Moral and Social Issue in Gradus amoris....... 172
The Description of Consent in Gradus amoris....................... 175
Description of Consent in the Eneas................................. 181
Description of Consent in Chrétien de Troyes’s Erec
et Enide............................................................................. 195
Description of Consent in Renaut de Beaujeu’s Bel
Inconnu............................................................................. 202
Chapter Six New Modes of Description in Romance
Narrative.................................................................................. 213
Insertions.................................................................................. 213
From Lyric Insertion to Narrative Investment..................... 222