Medieval Dutch Literature in its European Context (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature)
Cambridge University Press, 9/8/1994
EAN 9780521402224, ISBN10: 0521402220
Hardcover, 344 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
Language: English
This 1994 book offers insights into the rich and varied Dutch literature of the Middle Ages. Sixteen essays written by top scholars consider this literature in the context of the social, historical and cultural developments of the period in which it took shape. The collection includes studies of the most representative authors, genres, works and current fields of research interest, ranging from the court and the city, the world of chivalry, the literature of love, religious literature, drama and the artes texts. The essays draw on the idea of a common tradition in medieval literature, originating in France and shared by other literatures of western Europe. To facilitate the reader's understanding of the European context in which Dutch literature developed, a comparative chronological survey provides an overview of the main cultural, historical and literary events between 1150 and 1500. The bibliography includes details of published English translations of medieval Dutch texts discussed.
List of contributors
Preface
Map
Introduction Erik Kooper
Part I. Court and City
1. Court and city culture in the Low Countries from 1100 to 1530 W. Prevenier
2. Middle Dutch literature at court (with special reference to the court of Holland-Bavaria) Frits van Oostrom
3. Heralds, knights and travelling Wim van Anrooij
4. The rise of urban literature in the Low Countries Herman Pleij
Part II. The World of Chivalry
5. Middle Dutch Charlemagne romances and the oral tradition of the chansons de geste Evert van den Berg and Bart Besamusca
6. The prologue to Arturs doet, the Middle Dutch translation of La Mort le Roi Artu in the Lancelot Compilation Bart Besamusca and Orlanda S. H. Lie
7. The Roman van Walewein, an episodic Arthurian romance J. D. Janssens
Part III. Reynard the Fox
8. Words and deeds in the Middle Dutch Reynaert stories Paul Wackers
Part IV. The Literature of Love
9. Dirc Potter, a medieval Ovid A. M. J. van Buuren
10. Hovedans
fourteenth-century dancing songs in the Rhine and Meuse area Frank Willaert
Part V. Religious Literature
11. The saint and the world
the Middle Dutch Voyage of Saint Brendan Clara Strijbosch
12. Hadewijch
mystic poetry and courtly love J. Reynaert
13. The Modern Devotion and innovation in Middle Dutch literature Th. Mertens
Part VI. Artes Texts
14. A fourteenth-century vernacular poetics
Jan van Boendale's 'How Writers Should Write' (with a Modern English translation of the text by Erik Kooper) W. P. Gerritsen, H. van Dijk, Orlanda S. H. Lie and A. M. J. van Buuren
15. From food therapy to cookery-book Ria Jansen-Sieben
Part VII. Drama
16. The drama texts in the Van Hulthem manuscript H. van Dijk
Appendix A
bibliography of translations
Appendix B
chronological table
Index.