Beiträge zur mediävistischen Erzählforschung (BmE)
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Polyphonic weather miracles. Penitential theological border crossings in the ›Dialogus Miraculorum‹ of Caesarius von Heisterbach
No full textSchon die biblischen Wetterwunder kennzeichnet die Verschränkung von Wetterumschwung und Grenzüberschreitung. Im Wetterumschwung verkehrt sich nicht nur das Wetter, sondern wird auch der sündige Mensch, der eine moralische Grenze überschritten hat, zur inneren Umkehr durch Gott als Wetterherren angehalten. Wie sich der rhetorische Rückgriff auf das Wetter im Rahmen monastischer Unterweisung gestalten kann, wird am Beispiel der Wetterwunderexempel des ›Dialogus Miraculorum‹ gezeigt mit besonderem Augenmerk auf exemplum III, 21: Die innere Umkehr, zu der Gott im Wetterumschwung auffordert, ist zentraler Bestandteil der Buße. Die Buße beginnt mit der Sündenerkenntnis. Die im exemplum verschwiegene Sünde animiert den Rezipienten zur umfassenden Sündenreflexion, die wiederum den Beginn des bußpraktischen Exerzitiums im Akt des Lesens darstellt. Die ›narrative Theologie‹ des Caesarius nimmt sich aus moraldidaktischer wie bußtheologischer Sicht als ein durchaus riskanter Grenzgang zwischen Verbergen und Entbergen von Sünde(n) aus.Even the biblical weather miracles are characterized by the intertwining of weather change and the crossing of boundaries. During the weather change, not only does the weather change, but the sinful human being who has crossed a moral boundary is also urged to repent by God as the master of the weather. How the rhetorical recourse to weather can be expressed in the context of monastic instruction is shown using the weather miracle exempla in the ›Dialogus Miraculorum‹, with a particular focus on exemplum III, 21: The inner conversion that God calls for in the weather change is a central component of repentance. Repentance begins with the recognition of sin. The sin concealed in the exemplum encourages the recipient to reflect comprehensively on sin, which in turn represents the beginning of the practical exercise of repentance in the act of reading. Caesarius’ ›narrative theology‹ proves to oscillate between concealing and unconcealing sin(s) from a moral didactic and penitential theological perspective
Parler en doy comme comme clerc d’armes: miroitements du sujet dans le débat poétique du XVe siècle
Get PDFThe poetic debate as a genre is analyzed in this paper as an example of the integration of lyric dialogs into the form of first-person narrative. We try to explore the impact of this hybridization, especially in Christine de Pizan’s three love debates. The transposition of lovers’ dialogs seems to transform the status of the I, as the narrator does not appear as a clerk whose authority is linked to knowledge, but as a character involved in a scene and whose role is also to articulate divergent discourses. First, we explore the narrativization of the jeu-parti and the pastourelle in the debates of Christine de Pizan and Guillaume de Machaut, showing that this rewriting leads to structural modifications in narration and elaborates the figure of an ambushed narrator, eager to appropriate other languages or discourses. This scenography emphasizes one of the most important issue of the debate genre, the art of writing the other’s voice. The hybrid and polyphonic nature of the character’s voice is in fact object of reflections in the fifteenth century, particularly in the debate over the ‹Roman de la Rose›: Christine de Pizan expresses in this framework her perception of the double speech inherent to characters’ discourses, elaborated according to conventional representations of social and moral types, but at the same time reflecting the author’s intentions. The knight of the ‹Debat de deux amans› is analyzed here as an example of these inner contradictions within the character’s speech. As a consequence, the narrator’s implication in the dialog shades the debate as a whole: claiming to be outside and neutral, but appearing also as a character, the narrator seems no more to embody the authority and undermines the universality of knowledge: the debate can be considered as the expression of the limited point of view of an individualized character. The poetic love debate then reveals in the frame of first-person narrative a form of critical integration of other voices, which in fact weakens the didactic impact of the issues at stake: instance of subjectivity, the narrative I is also shaped by the lyric expression of desire and exemplifies the impossible neutrality of knowledge.The poetic debate as a genre is analyzed in this paper as an example of the integration of lyric dialogs into the form of first-person narrative. We try to explore the impact of this hybridization, especially in Christine de Pizan’s three love debates. The transposition of lovers’ dialogs seems to transform the status of the I, as the narrator does not appear as a clerk whose authority is linked to knowledge, but as a character involved in a scene and whose role is also to articulate divergent discourses. First, we explore the narrativization of the jeu-parti and the pastourelle in the debates of Christine de Pizan and Guillaume de Machaut, showing that this rewriting leads to structural modifications in narration and elaborates the figure of an ambushed narrator, eager to appropriate other languages or discourses. This scenography emphasizes one of the most important issue of the debate genre, the art of writing the other’s voice. The hybrid and polyphonic nature of the character’s voice is in fact object of reflections in the fifteenth century, particularly in the debate over the ‹Roman de la Rose›: Christine de Pizan expresses in this framework her perception of the double speech inherent to characters’ discourses, elaborated according to conventional representations of social and moral types, but at the same time reflecting the author’s intentions. The knight of the ‹Debat de deux amans› is analyzed here as an example of these inner contradictions within the character’s speech. As a consequence, the narrator’s implication in the dialog shades the debate as a whole: claiming to be outside and neutral, but appearing also as a character, the narrator seems no more to embody the authority and undermines the universality of knowledge: the debate can be considered as the expression of the limited point of view of an individualized character. The poetic love debate then reveals in the frame of first-person narrative a form of critical integration of other voices, which in fact weakens the didactic impact of the issues at stake: instance of subjectivity, the narrative I is also shaped by the lyric expression of desire and exemplifies the impossible neutrality of knowledge
The complex meditation of simple truths: Ulrich von Pottenstein\u27s ›Buch der natürlichen Weisheit‹ and the differentiation of the fable
No full textUlrichs von Pottenstein Fabelsammlung ›Buch von der natürlichen Weisheit‹ stellt eine kongeniale Übertragung des lateinischen ›Speculum Sapientiae‹ dar: Bei der Überschreitung der Sprachgrenze vom Lateinischen zum Deutschen erweitert Ulrich seine lateinische Vorlage um gezielte Irritationen, die die im lateinischen Lektüreusus ungeübte deutschsprachige Leserschaft zu einer differenzierten, dialektischen und intertextuell angereicherten Lektüre führen sollen. Besonders deutlich – und historisch nachweisbar – wird diese differenzierte lectio difficilior am Beispiel der Fabel ›Affe und Waldesel‹ und ihrer Inszenierung schlechten Wetters.Ulrich von Pottenstein\u27s collection of fables ›Buch von der natürlichen Weisheit‹ is a congenial translation of the Latin ›Speculum Sapientiae‹: In crossing the linguistic boundary from Latin to German, Ulrich adds deliberate irritations to his Latin original, which are intended to lead the German-speaking readership, untrained in reading Latin, to a differentiated, dialectical and intertextually enriched reading. This differentiated lectio difficilior becomes particularly clear – and historically verifiable – in the example of the fable ›Affe und Waldesel‹ and its staging of bad weather
Long Live Death! Paradoxes of Meaning in Medieval Exempla
No full textDer Beitrag verfolgt narrative Konstellationen, die im Anschluss an Odo Marquard aus der Paradoxie von Mortalität – der Notwendigkeit des Todes – und Finalität des Lebens – der Notwendigkeit der Sinngebung – resultieren. Im Oxymoron des lebenden Todes tritt zum einen die Paradoxie menschlicher Existenz real und allegorisch vor Augen. Zum andern findet die Frage nach der Sinnbildungsfunktion des Erzählens im Tod ihre ultimative Herausforderung. Vorgeführt werden Differenzen von individueller Betroffenheit und sozialer Opferlogik, kasuistische Konkurrenzen sozialer Werteregister sowie die ideologische Verwaltung von Grenzüberschreitung zwischen Leben und Tod. Dabei erweist sich das Thema als unerschöpfliches Reservoir für ein Erzählen, das die inventio an ihre Grenzen treibt. Es sind durchweg besondere Fälle, die konventionelle Erwartung an Sinn und Erzählen durch spezifische Verfahren unterminieren: Aufschub, Beispiel, Kasus, Oxymoron, Allegorie, Ironie, Fortuna.This article pursues narrative constellations which, following Odo Marquard, result from the paradox of mortality (the necessity of death) and the finality of life (the necessity of meaning). On the one hand, the paradox of human existence becomes real and allegorical in the oxymoron of living death. On the other hand, the question of the symbolic function of narrative finds its ultimate challenge in death. Differences are discussed between individual consternation and the social logic of victimisation, casuistic competitions between social registers of values and the ideological management of the transgression of boundaries between life and death. The subject proves to be an inexhaustible reservoir for narratives that push inventio to its limits. These are all special cases that undermine conventional expectations of meaning and narrative through specific procedures: deferral, example, case, oxymoron, allegory, irony, and fortuna
The Aesthetics of the Storm at Sea in Felix Fabri’s ›Evagatorium‹. Narrating as Pilgramage and Sea Voyage as Medium for Experiencing God
No full textDie Reise eines Pilgers gleicht der Lektüre eines ›topographischen Textes‹. Wenn der Reisende nach seiner Heimkehr zum Autor wird und von seiner besonderen Lektüreerfahrung erzählt, erschafft er eigene literarische Räume, die die Rezipienten auf ihrer geistigen Pilgerreise durchwandern können. Eine besondere Art einer solchen virtuellen Pilgerreise ermöglicht die Lektüre von Felix Fabris ›Evagatorium‹. Mit Blick auf die Schilderung seiner ersten Pilgerfahrt im Jahr 1480 zeigt der Beitrag, welche Rolle das Meer bei dieser Reise zu Gott spielt und wie das Erzählen von der Seefahrt die Inszenierung eines eigenen Rezeptionsmodus ermöglicht – einer eigenen Art der Gottes- und Naturwahrnehmung, die nicht nur im intellektuellen Nachvollzug bestimmter Wissensstrukturen liegt, sondern auch eine emotionale Komponente erhält. Insbesondere mit der stürmischen Rückfahrt wird eine letztendlich auf Gott bezogene Ästhetik der Natur inszeniert, deren richtige Wahrnehmung einen eigenen Zugang zu Gott gestattet.A pilgramage resembles the reading of a ›topographical text‹. When the traveler returns home and becomes an author himself, sharing his unique ›reading experience‹, he creates his own literary spaces through which the recipients can wander on their own mental pilgrimage. A special kind of such a spiritual pilgrimage is made possible by reading Felix Fabri’s ›Evagatorium‹. By looking at the narration of his first pilgrimage from 1480, the article shows the role of the sea in this journey to God. It explores the question how the narrative of the sea voyage enables a specific mode of reception, namely a special way of perceiving God and nature, which not only involves an intellectual, but also an emotional component. So, the stormy journey back stages a divine aesthetic of nature which, properly perceived, allows a personal access to God
About borders and weather in the Schneekind tradition
No full textDer vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die beiden mittelhochdeutschen Textzeugen der ›Schneekind-Tradition‹ (›Schneekind A‹ und ›B‹) hinsichtlich ihrer differenzierten narratologischen Gestaltung von Grenzen und Wetter. In einem ersten Schritt wurde die Umsetzung der beiden literarischen Motive in den jeweiligen Texten getrennt voneinander betrachtet und durch Vergleiche mit späteren Texten der Rezeptionskette ergänzt. Unter Berücksichtigung dieser Einzeluntersuchungen konnte die kompositionelle Verschränkung von Grenzen und Wetter als kommunikative und didaktische Strategie in den ›Schneekind-Texten‹ gezeigt werden: Wetter als ein Versuch der Grenzüberschreitung per se.This article examines the two Middle High German textual witnesses of the ›Schneekind-tradition‹ (›Schneekind A‹ and ›B‹) with regard to their differentiated narratological organisation of borders and weather. In a first step, the realisation of the two literary motifs in the respective texts was examined separately and supplemented by comparisons with later texts in the chain of reception. Taking these individual analyses into account, the compositional interweaving of narrative borders and weather as a communicative and didactic strategy in the ›Schneekind-texts‹ could be shown: Weather as an attempt to cross borders
Underwater Games. Thetis, Achilles and the ambiguity of fiction in Konrad’s von Würzburg ›Trojanerkrieg‹
No full textDer Beitrag untersucht Konrads vielstimmige Imaginationen des Meeres als Grenzraum in der Erzählung von Achilles sowie als poetologische Chiffre im Prolog. Während in der antiken Vorlage (Statius) die Ambiguität aller agierenden Hauptfiguren hervorgehoben wird, lassen sich bei Konrad Strategien der Ambiguierung neben solchen der Disambiguierung nachweisen: Im Dialog zwischen Thetis und Achilles stehen sich diese als diametrale Prinzipien, die zugleich Literaturproduktion und -rezeption modellieren, gegenüber. Hierbei sind insbesondere Thetis’ schöpferische Handlungen, die sich vor dem Hintergrund von Isers literarischer Anthropologie als ›Akte des Fingierens‹ umreißen lassen, aufschlussreich.The article at hand examines Konrad’s polyphonic imaginations of the sea as a border space in the narrative of Achilles and as a poetological cipher in the prologue. The ancient source (Statius) emphasizes the ambiguity of all main characters, whereas in Konrad’s work strategies of ambiguation can be found alongside those of disambiguation: in the dialogue between Thetis and Achilles, these strategies are juxtaposed as diametrical principles and at the same time as models for literary production and reception. Against the background of Iser’s literary anthropology, Thetis’ creative actions can be outlined as ›acts of fictionalization‹
The End in Things: MacGuffins in the Pre-Modern Exempla of Confession
No full text»Finalität« ist der MacGuffin der Narratologie. In Form eines linearen, kausal nachvollziehbaren Tathergangs lenkt sie die Aufmerksamkeit der Leser auf ein corpus delicti, ein beweiskräftiges Objekt, das freilich nicht die sinnerschließende Lösung des erzählten Falls birgt, sondern allenfalls Nebenmotiv einer komplexeren Problemreformulierung ist. Das Problem, das im Folgenden am Beispiel zweier Beichtexempla aus der Schweizer Kleinepiksammlung und aus Jörg Wickrams ›Rollwagenbüchlein‹ erörtet wird, liegt nicht im Bereich erzählerischer Fiktion, sondern in der Medialität eines paradoxen Sprechakts, dessen Performanz nicht-greifbare, nur im Gleichnis verbalisierbare Fakten (oder Non-Fakten) schafft. Für die Frage nach der Finalität exemplarischen Sprechens in vormoderner Kurzepik stellt die confessio ein experimentum crucis nicht nur der Erzähltheorie, sondern auch der Soziologie der Selbstsorge dar.›Finality‹ is the MacGuffin of narratology. In the form of a linear, causally comprehensible course of events, it draws the reader’s attention to a corpus delicti, a conclusive object which does not harbour the solution to the narrated case, but is, at best, a secondary motif in a more complex reformulation of the problem. Using two exempla of confession from the Swiss collection of short stories and one from Jörg Wickram’s ›Rollwagenbüchlein‹, it becomes evident that the problem does not lie in the realm of narrative fiction, but in the mediality of a paradoxical act of speech, the performance of which creates intangible facts (or non-facts) that can only be verbalised in parable. Regarding the question of the finality of exemplary speech in pre-modern epic poetry, the confessio represents an experimentum crucis not only for narrative theory, but also for the sociology of self-care
The Beginning of the End: Metaleptic Gestures in Rüdeger von Hinchoven’s ›Schlegel‹
No full textPositionen der historischen Narratologie, die sich auf Versnovellistik konzentrieren, haben bereits häufig eine Erweiterung narratologischer Modelle gefordert, um den kommunikativen Charakter dieser Textform zu berücksichtigen. Der Beitrag erprobt anhand der Versnovelle ›Der Schlegel‹ eine narratologische Analyse, die die narrative Gemengelage zwischen Erzählung und Epimythion in ihrer erzähl- und performanztheoretischen Vielschichtigkeit ausleuchten soll. Als methodische Neuerung wird daher vorgeschlagen, diesseits klassischer Metalepsen die angedeutete Verfügbarkeit der Erzählebenen durch metaleptische Gesten zu beschreiben, die die Verfügungsgewalt der Erzählinstanz über das Erzählte ausstellen.Positions in historical narratology that focus on verse novellas have often called for an extension of narratological models in order to consider the communicative character of this text form. This article uses the verse novella ›Der Schlegel‹ to test a narratological analysis that aims to illuminate the mixture between narration and epimythion in its narrative and performance-theoretical complexity. As a methodological innovation, it is therefore proposed to describe the implied availability of the narrative levels by means of metaleptic gestures, which exhibit the narrator’s power of disposal over the narrative
Allégorie et narrativité dans la ‹Minnelehre›, le ‹Roman de la Poire› et la ‹Jagd›
Get PDFIn a comparative approach, the paper examines narrative features of Middle High German and Old French texts belonging to the text family ‹allegorical first-person narratives about love›. Due to their allegoricity, these texts challenge modern narratological concepts of narrativity and diegesis, attesting to highly transgressive structures: action takes place between a loving ‹I› and allegorical personifications, between entities that are not separate individuals but remain intertwined. While agency is frequently shifted from the ‹I› on allegorical personifications, the allegorical form proves to be infectious, touching on parts that initially do not belong to the allegorical realm, not least the ‹I›. This transgressivity goes hand in hand with a temporal porosity – a permanent oscillation between the past and the present tense, conferring a strongly lyrical and performative dimension especially to the ‹Jagd› and the ‹Roman de la Poire›. On a macrolevel, the plots combine linear and iterative or cyclic temporalities that equally point to the lyrical quality of the narrativity. Allegory makes visible that lyrical narrativity, unfolding a ‹story› with actions tending to take place on the level of language and signs, often in the form of semiotic leaps. Finally, the love experience told by the ‹I› in allegorical form can be seen as an experience of language and can be related to the idea of the liber experientiae, attributing to language (and metaphor) a reality of its own. A concept of the texts’ narrativity would have to take into account this alterite understanding of the reality of metaphor, as suggested with the notion of ‹allegorical narrativity›.In a comparative approach, the paper examines narrative features of Middle High German and Old French texts belonging to the text family ‹allegorical first-person narratives about love›. Due to their allegoricity, these texts challenge modern narratological concepts of narrativity and diegesis, attesting to highly transgressive structures: action takes place between a loving ‹I› and allegorical personifications, between entities that are not separate individuals but remain intertwined. While agency is frequently shifted from the ‹I› on allegorical personifications, the allegorical form proves to be infectious, touching on parts that initially do not belong to the allegorical realm, not least the ‹I›. This transgressivity goes hand in hand with a temporal porosity – a permanent oscillation between the past and the present tense, conferring a strongly lyrical and performative dimension especially to the ‹Jagd› and the ‹Roman de la Poire›. On a macrolevel, the plots combine linear and iterative or cyclic temporalities that equally point to the lyrical quality of the narrativity. Allegory makes visible that lyrical narrativity, unfolding a ‹story› with actions tending to take place on the level of language and signs, often in the form of semiotic leaps. Finally, the love experience told by the ‹I› in allegorical form can be seen as an experience of language and can be related to the idea of the liber experientiae, attributing to language (and metaphor) a reality of its own. A concept of the texts’ narrativity would have to take into account this alterite understanding of the reality of metaphor, as suggested with the notion of ‹allegorical narrativity›