Vernacular Literary Theory in the Middle Ages: The German Tradition, 800-1300, in its European Context

by Walter Haug

Overview

This book first appeared in German in 1985, and set a new agenda for the study of medieval literary theory. While Haug focuses primarily on medieval German writers, the principles underlying his argument are equally relevant to medieval literature in English or any other European language. This ground-breaking study is now available in English for the first time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521341974
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/06/1997
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature , #29
Pages:	444
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.14(d)

Table of Contents

Translator's preface; Preface to the English edition; Introductory remarks; 1. The background: Christian aesthetics versus classical rhetoric; 2. The problem of the vernacular: Otfrid von Weissenburg and the beginnings of literary theory in Old High German; 3. Literature, allegory and salvation: theoretical positions in Early Middle High German; 4. Religious adaptation of secular forms: the Rolandslied, Brautwerbungsepen ('bridal quests'), the Alexander romance; 5. Chrétien de Troyes' prologue to Erec et Enide and the Arthurian structural model; 6. Divine inspiration and the changing role of the poet in Chrétien's Lancelot and Cligés; 7. Hartmann von Aue's fictional programme: the prologue to Iwein; 8. Hagiographical legend or romance? - Hartmann's prologue to Gregorius; 9. Wolfram von Eschenbach's literary theory: the prologue to Parzival, the metaphor of the bow, and the 'self-defence'; 10. Wolfram's Willehalm: a return to historical romance?; 11. Ethics and aesthetics: Gottfried von Strassburg's literary theory; 12. The truth of fiction: Thomasin von Zerklære and integumentum theory; 13. The Lucidarius A-prologue in the context of contemporary literary theory, and the origins of the prose romance; 14. Magic, morals and manipulation: the emergence of the post-classical Arthurian romance; 15. Rudolf von Ems' Der guote Gêrhart: a programmatic rejection of the correlation between merit and reward; 16. Chance, fortune and virtue: Rudolf von Ems' Alexander; 17. Wolfram's prologue to Willehalm: a model for later hagiographical romances; 18. The new genre of love-romance: suffering as a way to fulfilment. From Rudolf von Ems' Willehalm von Orlens to Ulrich von Etzenbach's Willehalm von Wenden; 19. Konrad von Würzburg: spellbinding artistry and individual moral action; 20. Albrecht's Der jüngere Titurel: magic and moral code in the inscription on the hound's leash; Concluding remarks; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...an intelligent, sparkling book." Neue Zúrcher Zeitung

"...it is to be hoped that this brilliant and lively book will quickly find a readership in related disciplines of study." Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift

"...the volume is suitable only for upper-division undergraduate and graduate libraries supporting coursework in German literature and the Middle Ages." L.J. Rippley, Choice

"This book...is undoubtedly one of the most important recent contributions to the study of medieval literary theory. Moreover... it is sure to spur similarly original investigations which interrogate literary conventionality and self-conscious reflection in the context of their concrete historical functions...." Richard J. Utz, Arthuriana

"With this English edition of [Haug's] book, medieval literary studies, both here and abroad, ahve received a tremendous boost and an intellectual impetus that may well bear fruit for a long time." Ernst S. Dick, Speculum

From the Publisher