Description
Book SynopsisNew essays on the first flowering of German literature, in the High Middle Ages and especially during the period 1180-1230. The High Middle Ages, and particularly the period from 1180 to 1230, saw the beginnings of a vibrant literary culture in the German vernacular. While significant literary achievements in German had already been made in earlier centuries, they were a somewhat precarious vernacular extension of Christian Latin culture. But the vernacular literary culture of the High Middle Ages was an integral part of broader cultural developments in which the unquestioned validity of traditional authoritative models began to lose its hold. A secular culture began to emerge in which positive value began to be attached to the -- however transitory -- allegiances, pleasures, and loves of life. In new essays dealing with the most significant literary genres (the heroic epics, the romances, the love lyrics, and political poetry) and with broader political, social, and cultural issues (control of aggression, territorialization), this third volume of the Camden House History of German Literature demonstrates how the emergence of a vernacular literary culture in Germany was an important part of a broader cultural transformation in which medieval people began to redefine themselves, their relationships to one another, and the position of humanity in the scheme of things. Contributors: Albrecht Classen, Nicola McLelland, Rodney Fisher, Neil Thomas, Marion Gibbs and Sidney Johnson, Rüdiger Krohn, Will Hasty, Nigel Harris, Susann Samples, Sara Poor, Michael Resler, Rüdiger Brandt, Elizabeth A. Andersen, Ulrich Müller and Franz Viktor Spechtler, Ruth Weichselbaumer, W. H. Jackson, Charles Bowlus. Will Hasty is Professor of German Studies and co-founder and co-director of the Center for Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Florida.
Trade ReviewOffering brilliant essays ... the volume reorients and refreshes knowledge of cultural developments of the period. * CHOICE *
There is much offered and almost nothing lacking in this volume, which is the best current vade mecum for Middle High German literature of which I am aware. This book is a must-have for any serious library.... The Camden House German Literature of the High Middle Ages will remain the premier literary history of this period for many years to come. * MONATSHEFTE *
Thoughtful, solidly researched and written in an engaging style, these essays are as instructive as they are a pleasure to read. * H-NET BOOK REVIEW *
The volume is an eminently worthy addition to this ambitious series and should be purchased by the libraries of both scholarly and undergraduate-oriented institutions. * GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW *
[The book] should be enormously useful to a variety of audiences, from undergraduates taking survey courses to medievalist Germanists who need quick but thorough and often insightful introductions to an author or a work outside their usual speciality. * GERMAN QUARTERLY *
Table of ContentsIntroduction - Will Hasty Heinrich von Veldeke - Albrecht Classen Hartmann von Aue - Rodney Fisher Gottfried von Strassburg and the Tristan Myth - Rüdiger Krohn Wolfram von Eschenbach [coauthored with Sidney Johnson] - Marion E. Gibbs Ulrich von Zatzikhoven's Lanzelet - Nicola McLelland Walther von der Vogelweide - Will Hasty Didactic Poetry - Nigel Harris Minnesang: The Medieval German Love Lyrics - Will Hasty The German Heroic Narratives - Susanne Samples Early Mystical Writings - Sara S. Poor Wirnt von Grafenberg's Wigalois and Heinrich von dem Türlin's Diu Crône - Neil Thomas Der Stricker - Michael Resler Konrad von Würzburg - Rüdiger Brandt Rudolf von Ems - Elizabeth A. Andersen Ulrich von Liechtenstein (coauthored with Franz Viktor Spechtler) - Ulrich Muller Wernher der Gärtner - Ruth Weichselbaumer Court Literature and Violence in the High Middle Ages - Harry Jackson Mobility, Politics, and Society in Medieval Germany - Charles Bowlus
