Allegory and the Poetic Self: First-Person Narration in Late Medieval Literature - Hardcover

by R. Barton Palmer (Editor), Katharina Philipowski (Editor), Julia Rüthemann (Editor)

The
rise of an influential new family of poetry in the Middle Ages

This
book is the first collective examination of late medieval intimate first-person
narratives that blur the lines between author, narrator, and protagonist and
usually feature personification allegory and courtly love tropes, creating an
experimental new family of poetry. In this volume, contributors analyze why the
allegorical first-person romance embedded itself in the vernacular literature
of Western Europe and remained popular for more than two centuries.

The
editors identify and discuss three predominant forms within this family: debate
poetry, dream allegories, and autobiographies. Contributors offer textual
analyses of key works from late medieval German, French, Italian, and Iberian
literature, with discussion of developments in England, as well.

Allegory
and the Poetic Self offers a
sophisticated, theoretically current discussion of relevant literature. This exploration of medieval "I" narratives
offers insights not just into the premodern period but also into Western
literature's subsequent traditions of self-analysis and identity crafting
through storytelling.

Author Biography

R. Barton Palmer, Calhoun Lemon Professor Emeritus of English at Clemson University, is coeditor of Machaut's Legacy: The Judgment Poetry Tradition in the Later Middle Ages and Beyond. Katharina Philipowski, medieval German literature professor at the University of Potsdam, is coeditor of Von Sich Selbst Erzahlen: Historische Dimensionen Des Ich-Erzahlens. Julia Rüthemann, Feodor Lynen research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris, is coeditor of Körper-Ästhetiken: Allegorische Verkörperungen als ästhetisches Prinzip.