Artusrittertum und Melancholie
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Friedrich Wolfzettel
Abstract
Compared with other medieval narrative genres, French Arthurian romance seems to be characterized by unusually frequent use of the word field of thoughtfulness (manifested in the words penser and pensif), often to imply melancholy and brooding. It is actually the only genre to celebrate melancholy in this way. Here, melancholy might be explained as a foreboding of doom or, more generally, as the product of an unresolved and virtually utopian tension between ideals and reality (Erich Köhler) and by the intimation of futility which identifies Arthurian literature as the first ›adult‹ and ›modern‹ narrative model of the Middle Ages. Aside from this, from a narratological point of view there is a functional difference between verse and prose romance. In the former, the word field penser triggers a temporary immobilization of the lonely hero’s quest or even a kind of ecstasis. In the latter, penser and its correlatives imprint a seal of emotional intensity on entire sections of the action, as can be seen in the Galehaut episode of the Lancelot en prose or in the final moments of the Arthurian realm in La Mort Artu. In these different realisations, melancholy/penser is woven into the fabric of the Arthurian concept.
Abstract
Compared with other medieval narrative genres, French Arthurian romance seems to be characterized by unusually frequent use of the word field of thoughtfulness (manifested in the words penser and pensif), often to imply melancholy and brooding. It is actually the only genre to celebrate melancholy in this way. Here, melancholy might be explained as a foreboding of doom or, more generally, as the product of an unresolved and virtually utopian tension between ideals and reality (Erich Köhler) and by the intimation of futility which identifies Arthurian literature as the first ›adult‹ and ›modern‹ narrative model of the Middle Ages. Aside from this, from a narratological point of view there is a functional difference between verse and prose romance. In the former, the word field penser triggers a temporary immobilization of the lonely hero’s quest or even a kind of ecstasis. In the latter, penser and its correlatives imprint a seal of emotional intensity on entire sections of the action, as can be seen in the Galehaut episode of the Lancelot en prose or in the final moments of the Arthurian realm in La Mort Artu. In these different realisations, melancholy/penser is woven into the fabric of the Arthurian concept.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Inhalt v
- Vorwort der Herausgeber ix
-
I. Die emotionale Seite der Figur: Innensicht und ›Figurenpsychologie‹
- Artusrittertum und Melancholie 3
- Emotionen in den Tristan-Romanen: Zorn- und Wutausbrüche 19
- »Wes das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über« 31
- Was fühlen Erzähler? 47
- Zur Psycho-Logik bei Wolfram 63
- Palamède im Spiegel seiner selbst im Tristan en Prose 87
- Innensicht und Außensicht 99
- Enites schöne Seele 117
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II. Die emotionale Seite der Handlung: Figurenkonzeption und Handlungsmotivation
- Die Tränen der Cunneware 155
- Lancelot – eine komplexe Figur zwischen höfischer Liebe und Gralsrittertum 173
- Eine flache Figur? 185
- The Community and its Champion 197
- Verflachung der Emotionen? 213
- Emotion und Handlungsmotivation in Sir Tristrem 229
- Ginovers Krise 243
- Motiviertes Handeln oder fixe Rollenzuteilung 271
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Inhalt v
- Vorwort der Herausgeber ix
-
I. Die emotionale Seite der Figur: Innensicht und ›Figurenpsychologie‹
- Artusrittertum und Melancholie 3
- Emotionen in den Tristan-Romanen: Zorn- und Wutausbrüche 19
- »Wes das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über« 31
- Was fühlen Erzähler? 47
- Zur Psycho-Logik bei Wolfram 63
- Palamède im Spiegel seiner selbst im Tristan en Prose 87
- Innensicht und Außensicht 99
- Enites schöne Seele 117
-
II. Die emotionale Seite der Handlung: Figurenkonzeption und Handlungsmotivation
- Die Tränen der Cunneware 155
- Lancelot – eine komplexe Figur zwischen höfischer Liebe und Gralsrittertum 173
- Eine flache Figur? 185
- The Community and its Champion 197
- Verflachung der Emotionen? 213
- Emotion und Handlungsmotivation in Sir Tristrem 229
- Ginovers Krise 243
- Motiviertes Handeln oder fixe Rollenzuteilung 271
