Detailed readings of four major medieval cycles. This is a study of
four colossal medieval works - the Cycle de Guillaume d'Orange, the
Vulgate Cycle, the Prose Tristan and the Roman de Renart - which
are normally considered separately. By placing them side-by-side
for analysis, Luke Sunderland is able to argue for an aesthetic of
cyclicity that cuts across genre. He combines detailed readings of
the narrative infrastructure of each cycle with attention to the
shifts and transformations that come with successive acts of
rewriting. Old French Narrative Cycles focuses in particular on
revisions and controversies around heroic figures, arguing that
competition between alternative heroes within these texts makes
them a discourse on heroism. Using a theoretical framework deriving
from Lacanian psychoanalysis, the study reveals anxieties
surrounding the hero's relationship to the "good": the hero
oscillates between support for moral ideals and subversive
assertions of freedom that can lead to evil and death. Ultimately,
it is contended that the instability of the hero as conduit for
morality produces textual confusion and generates the myriad
differing versions of these vast and perplexing works. LUKE
SUNDERLAND is Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages and
Cultures, University of Durham.
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