A New History of Medieval French Literature

176 Pages·2011·0.655 MB·English

by  Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet, Sara L. Preisig

A New History of Medieval French Literature
Rethinking Theory
Stephen G. Nichols and Victor E. Taylor, Series Editors
A New History of Medieval
French Literature
JACQUELINE CERQUIGLINI-TOULET
Translated by
SARA PREISIG
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Baltimore
Originally published as “Moyen Âge,” in La littérature française: dynamique et histoire,
edited by Jean-Yves Tadié. © 2007 Éditions Gallimard, Paris.
©2011 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2011
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
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Library of CongressCataloging-in-Publication Data
Cerquiglini-Toulet, Jacqueline.
A new history of medieval French literature / Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn-13:978-1-4214-0303-8 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
isbn-10:1-4214-0303-x (hardcover : acid-free paper)
1. French literature—To 1500—History and criticism. I. Title.
pq156.c472011
840.9'001—dc22 2011011228
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contents
Translator’s Note vii
Introduction 1
part i: writing in the middle ages
1 The Materiality of Writing 15
2 TheQuestion of the Author 20
3 The Work and Its Audiences 38
4 The Work and Its Milieux 56
part ii: the field of literature
5 The Subject Matter 65
6 The Paths to Writing 80
7 Modes of Composition 100
8 Models of Writing 107
part iii: building the sense
9 TheQuestion of Literary Heritage 115
Conclusion: The Incubation Period 129
Chronology 135
Notes 147
Bibliography 149
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translator’s note
In translating the present work, I have attempted to stay close to the
original text while giving it an American style. For the major works cited
by Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet, I have used existing translations, which
are included in the bibliography. For the other numerous texts quoted
throughout this work, I have supplied my own translations.
I would like to thank Yvonne Lucero and Peter Dreyer for their invalu-
able proofreading and stylistic suggestions as well as Florian Preisig, who
gave up much of his own research time to tirelessly read and reread this
translation for content as well as form. Any remaining typographical or
stylistic errors fall directly to me.
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A New History of Medieval French Literature