The Arabic Role in Medieval Literary History by Menocal Maria Rosa;

Author:Menocal, Maria Rosa;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Published: 1987-04-03T05:00:00+00:00

Notes

1. Boase 1976 is the major full-length study of the history of scholarship on Provençal troubadour poetry. Although he concludes that the Arabist theory is the soundest overall, Boase’s general recounting of the history of the scholarship is both nonpartisan and thorough. See the 1978 review by Cummins. In Menocal 1981, also a review of this book, I provide further bibliography and an analysis of why Boase’s evenhandedness vis-à-vis the Arabist theory is valuable and convincing. It is unfortunate that Boase does not, however, come to grips with the problem of why the Arabist theory has continued to be rejected, especially in light of the fact that he has found it the most reasonable and convincing overall. Nevertheless, this is certainly the best study of both the earliest history of scholarship on the question, that which precedes the institutionalization of Romance studies, and the more recent intellectual history. It may be supplemented by Cremonesi 1955, which is also a detailed history and evaluation of origins work in the modern period (that is, after the middle of the nineteenth century). Cremonesi pays special attention to the question of how scholarship has dealt with the distinction between popular and courtly literature (5–35). She also notes that theories of Arabic origins “non incontrano il favore della critica” (25). These two sources have provided much valuable information for the discussion in this chapter.

2. Besides Boase 1976, the two best discussions of our understanding of “courtly love” are Frappier 1959 and, especially, Frappier 1968, which is an extensive, lucid and highly informative critique of the series of essays in Newman 1968. Since the Newman collection includes Robertson’s well-known article, “The Concept of Courtly Love as an Impediment to the Understanding of Medieval Texts” (Donaldson 1970 is also dedicated to the same proposition), Frappier’s response is particularly important and valuable. See also an earlier critique in Silverstein 1949.

3. Recent trobairitz studies include the sketchy Bogin 1976 and Paden et al. 1981. Although in both cases the authors focus on what distinguishes them from their male counterparts, the similarities and parallelisms that emerge from these studies are substantial. See further discussion of this issue in Chapter 4.

4. Dronke has explored this position in depth and has canonized the distinction between male and female love songs. See Dronke [1968] 1977.

5. Note especially Payen’s 1979 attempt to dismiss the question: “Les romanistes ont perdu trop de temps à énoncer de vaines hypothèses sur les origines de la lyrique troubadouresque” (98). He goes on to conclude, however, as the title of the article indicates, that William created a “révolution idéologique” (106).

6. For information on Andrés himself, the expulsion of the Spanish Jesuits, and his text, see Mazzeo 1965.

7. This is Boase’s conclusion, and he documents it thoroughly. See, for example, Fauriel [1860] 1966. Studies not devoted to this issue in particular but rather to the question of the “Orient” in eighteenth-century French literature and literary studies would lend support to his thesis. See, for example, Martino [1906] 1970.

8. Said 1978: xii and 102.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.