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Notes summary European Literary History
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Summary and notes of texts discussed in the seminars of European Literary History. First year second block European Studies. Notes date from year 2017/2018
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European Literary History summaries/ notes textsLiterature not only tells us about its own tmee but makes us aware of special characteristcs of our
own tme. Literature is not tmeless: double-historical. eultural-social part of historical development
is disregarded in favour of learning about important men and events. But European reality shows
that this is not sufcient. .ou have to study history of culture manifested in literature.
Ofen sense of contnuity assumed in history. eulture changes with tme as well.
Week 1
THEME I: ADVENTURE
The theme Adventure accentuates the literature of medieval tmese in partcular chivalric narratves.
Startng from the Song of Roland with its rude warriors and unrelentng loyalty to the ehristan god
and kinge followed by Lancelote Knight of eharte a fne example of courtly lovee the theme addresses
eervantes’ famous parody of the genre Don Quichot. It identfes traces of the chivalric romance even
in the 20th centurye when the noton of adventure is thoroughly redefned and the ant-hero makes
his/her appearance; we therefore close this theme with Jeanete interson’s postmodern reversal of
roles between men as heroes and women as the object of afecton in The Passione a story set in
Venice and Russiae with Napoleon’s rise and fall as background.
Adventure narratve is classic trope of European storytelling. Basic parameters:
- Hero tries to reach goal and has to overcome difcultes.
- eharacters usually though guys
- Story/narratve develops through movement in space (travele etc.)
- eharacter in diferent narratve may changee challenges are usually similar (overcoming
weaknesse fghtng nature etc.)
In antiquity hero was strong noble and smart: warriore prince noblemane never a commoner. They
personify ancient ideals of how man should be. Ideals change throughout the tme but always
reflected in more contemporary adventure narratves.
One unitng motf: sea travel.
Adventure narratves develop with tme and become more complex thematcally. Basic structure and
parameters stay the same. Motf of sea travel permeates from Odysseye through the Aeneide Viking
sagas and the Lusiads to modernity.
Ancient adventure stories can be divided in 2 categories:
1: pre-eourtly: = pre-ehristan. Hero is supposed to be strong and passionate. Heroes of ware not
peace. Their virtues are warriors’ virtues: honoure loyaltye rivalry etc. they all have and insist on their
privileges. Because they are warriorse the stronger the hero the more virtuous he is. They are not
measured by ehristan virtues such as kindness.
These pre-courtly ideals do not disappear but are supplanted and developed into later principles.
eulture is cumulatve: instead of replacing older idease new ones exist side by side.
2: eourtly: heroes care about courtly virtues developed through early feudalism and ehristanity.
Adhere to ehristan morals and new rules of society. Male warrior culture is being tamed through
authority of law: replaces supreme rule of violence. reflects paradigm in ehristan Europee which
,European Literary History summaries/ notes texts
now sees culture as repression of base instncts and emphasizes being cultured as being able to act
with restraint.
Virtues are courtly: ethose moralitye puritye chivalrye religion. They adhere to social rituals and
ceremonies prescribed by society and excel in them. They put women’s honour above their own.
They restrain their passions to fulfl ehristan virtue.
ehivalric ideals:
- Self-restrainte ceremonial
- Virtue instead of honour
- Force of law/rules instead of muscles and violence
- In service of women (courtly love): in defence of the weak
Not absolute jump but change but in literature from not restraint behaviour to restraint behaviour.
Chanson de Roland/the Song of Roland
= pre-courtly lovee central plot: religious ware heroisme couragee sacrifce for king and god.
based on the Batle of Roncevaux Pass in 778e during the reign of eharlemagne. It is the oldest
surviving major work of French literature
The date of compositon is put in the period between 1040 and 1115: an early version beginning
around 1040 with additons and alteratons made up untl about 1115.
The poem is writen in stanzas of irregular length known as laisses. The lines are decasyllabic
(containing ten syllables)e and each is divided by a strong caesura which generally falls afer the
fourth syllable. The last stressed syllable of each line in a laisse has the same vowel sound as every
other end-syllable in that laisse. The laisse is therefore an assonale not a rhyming stanza.
On a narratve levele the Song of Roland features extensive use of repettone parallelisme and thesis-
antthesis pairs. Roland proposes Ganelon for the dangerous mission to Saragossa; Ganelon
designates Roland to man the rear-guard. eharlemagne is contrasted with Baligant.[5] Unlike later
Renaissance and Romantc literaturee the poem focuses on acton rather than introspecton. The
characters are presented through what they doe not through what they think or feel.
The narrator gives few explanatons for characters' behaviour. The warriors are stereotypes defned
by a few salient traits; for examplee Roland is loyal and trustng while Ganelone though bravee is
traitorous and vindictve.
The narrator is openly biased towards the Franks. His moral view is very black-and-white: the Franks
are goode and the pagans are bad.
The story moves at a fast pacee occasionally slowing down and recountng the same scene up to
three tmes but focusing on diferent details or taking a diferent perspectve each tme. The efect is
similar to a flm seiquence shot at diferent angles so that new and more important details come to
light with each shot.
eares about:
- His sword
- His horse
,European Literary History summaries/ notes texts
- His King
- God
His priorites are those of a warrior only.
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
= courtly e central plot: forbidden lovee between iqueen Guinevere and Lancelot the knight. Main shif
has to do w/ control/loyalty/restraint. Love is powerful force to Lancelote but loyalty to King is more
important = courtly behaviour.
Old French poem by ehréten de Troyes. It is unknown exactly when the poem was composede only
that it would have been between 1175 and 1181 (most likely 1177). The story is an Arthurian legende
and one of the frst to feature Lancelot as a prominent character. The narratve tells about the
abducton of Queen Guineveree and is the frst text to feature the love afair between Lancelot and
Guinevere. hile litle is known about the life of ehréten de Troyese it can be said that his writngs
impacted the Arthurian canone establishing Lancelot’s subseiquent prominence in English literature.
ehréten was the frst writer to deal with the Arthurian themes of the lineage of Lancelote his
relatonship to Guineveree and the idea of courtly love. It is believed that ehréten did not complete
the text himselfe and eventually disagreed with the story's heavily featured theme of courtly love.
eourtly love was coined by the medievalist Gaston Paris in 1883 to help understand the relatonship
between Lancelot and Guinevere in Lancelote The Knight of the eart. Alexander J. Denomy describes
courtly love ase “… a type of sensual love and what distnguishes it from other forms of sexual lovee
from mere passion… is its purpose or motvee its formal objecte namelye the lover's progress and
growth in natural goodnesse merite and worth”.[7] In the Knight of the earte Lancelot has become
entranced by Guinevere and in more ways than onee[8] is ruled by her. As the iqueene Guinevere
maintains power over the kingdom as well as Lancelot. hen Meleagant iquestons their love and her
adultery to the kinge Lancelot challenges Meleagant to a batle to protect Guinevere’s honour.
Lancelot has no shame in showing his afair with the iqueene “Lancelot’s love explodes into romance
without any beginning revealed or end foretolde fully formed and symbolized by the extraordinary
fullness of his heart”.[8] This introducton of the love afair between Guinevere and Lancelot appears
in many other stories afer this poem was writen.
eares only about iqueen’s honoure not his own. Stcks to the literally courtly ethos ruling early
medieval noble society. Acts are defned by ceremonialisme influenced by monastc traditon and
emergence of manners. Male warrior is being tamed through authority of law.
Cervantes: The adventures of Don Quixote
eervantes hated chivalric romances made parody.
Don Quijote went mad because he read to many (bad) chivalric romances. mocks chivalric
romances.
eervantes is considered one of most important writers of Spanish Siglo de Oro + inventor of modern
novel. The text is the author’s take on the many chivalric novels of the tme. He critcises excessive
, European Literary History summaries/ notes texts
consumpton of fctone moving between parody and satre in his work. eervantes refers to many
previous texts as well as his contemporary chivalric novelse producing strong intertextuality within
the text. Also breaks the fourth wall and comments directly on the plot and actons of Don Quijote
giving the text a metafctonal side.
Plot:
Don Quijote reads too many novels about knights and chivalry does not leave his reading room
and his brain dries out as a result becomes delusional and think that he is a knight himself. ith
Sancho Panza he goes on a voyagee fghtng windmills and riding his old mare Rosinantee who he
believes to be a magnifcent steed. He obsesses about a farmer’s daughter he meets in a felde
claiming her to be his beloved princesse and trying to win her favour through incredulous exploits. In
reality she feels threatened by the lunatc old aristocrat.
Mocks chivalric romances.
Inspiring audience doesn’t has to be funny but let’s audience think.
rite parodies to critcise certain issues. Hide behind parody for censure.
Mocks knightse womene feudal system/social politcal system.
Shows that there are problems
Sancho is real boss but doesn’t do anythinge lazy. Manipulates Don Quijote.
Supernatural element is parodied. Everything is enchantednot that special anymore
Diferent narratve structurese narrator vs. Sancho. Unreliable narrator.
Sancho sometmes talks to himself: breaks the illusion.
Winterson: The Passion
- Gender roles
- Religion
Both Henri +Villanelle go on adventure. Henri actually didn’t do anything. Set before gender theory
was developede cannot use this bc it is anachronistc.
Gender roles always discussed within their own tme frame
Villanelle convinced that she is believable mene but her afair knows she is a woman.
But no judgement.
About Henri who fghts in Napoleonic wars but actually doesn’t fght.
THEME II: THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY AND COURTLY LOVE
The veneraton of the Virgin Mary appears in literature once ehristanity starts spreading over
Europe. But the fgure of Mary in literature and the visual arts also shows traces of more ancient
cultures. In the course of tme the image of Mary changes thoroughlye and so do the functons
atributed to her. Perhaps her most spectacular appearance is in the literary cult of courtly love in the
middle ages. From the gospel of Luke we go to Dante’s Divine Comedye where the fgure of Marye and
its worldly counterpart Beatricee defne Dante’s vision of heaven. e trace the theme into the 20 th
centurye with Thomas Mann’s novel The Holy Sinnere a parody of the noton of immaculate
concepton.
ith advent of ehristanitye traditonal image of women in art is changed by arrival of new supreme
role model: Virgin Mary. omen will be measured by her example.
Foundatonal documents of courtly society: Regula Benedictum: set of monastc scripture describing
mannerse courtly order and virtues chivalric attude. ehivalry is connected to ehristan virtues.
Noton of femininity changes as welle influenced by ehristan idea of women. Idea derives from Virgin
Marye only female fgure in Latn rite of ehristanity.
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