Description
Book SynopsisBroad and wide-ranging survey of and investigation into the important question of whether medieval narrative was designed for performance. This book provides the first comprehensive study of the performance of medieval narrative, using examples from England and the Continent and a variety of genres to examine the crucial question of whether - and how - medieval narratives were indeed intended for performance. Moving beyond the familiar dichotomy between oral and written literature, the various contributions emphasize the range and power of medieval performance traditions, and demonstrate thatknowledge of the modes and means of performance is crucial for appreciating medieval narratives. The book is divided into four main parts, with each essay engaging with a specific issue or work, relating it to larger questions about performance. It first focuses on representations of the art of medieval performers of narrative. It then examines relationships between narrative performances and the material books that inspired, recorded, or representedthem. The next section studies performance features inscribed in texts and the significance of considering performability. The volume concludes with contributions by present-day professional performers who bring medieval narratives to life for contemporary audiences. Topics covered include orality, performance, storytelling, music, drama, the material book, public reading, and court life.
Trade ReviewThis excellent collection proves that on the stage, oral and gestural performance are just as important as texts. [It] is warmly recommended for purchase by university libraries and schools of acting. * FIFTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES *
This excellent collection proves that on the stage, oral and gestural performance are just as important as texts. * FIFTEENTH-CENTURY STUDIES *
Will be of interest to historians of performance as well as to literary historians. * ARTHURIANA *
Brings together a rich variety of insights regarding the performance of many different types of medieval narrative. * ECONOMIA *
Table of ContentsIntroduction [with Nancy Freeman Regalado and Marilyn Lawrence] - Evelyn Birge Vitz Introduction [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Marilyn Lawrence] - Nancy Freeman Regalado Introduction [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Nancy Freeman Regalado] - Marilyn Lawrence `He was the best teller of tales in the world': Performing Medieval Welsh Narrative - Sioned Davies The Complaint of the Makers: Wynnere and Wastoure and the `Misperformance Topos' in Medieval England - Joyce Coleman Dioneo's Repertory: Performance and Writing in Boccaccio's Decameron - John Ahern Mise en Texte as Indicator of Oral Performance in Old French Verse Narrative - Keith Busby Erotic Reading in the Middle Ages: Performance and Re-performance of Romance - Evelyn Birge Vitz Oral Performance of Written Narrative in the Medieval French Romance Ysaÿe le Triste - Marilyn Lawrence Performing Romance: Arthurian Interludes in Sarrasin's Le roman du Hem [1278] - Nancy Freeman Regalado Performing Fabliaux - Brian Levy Preaching, Storytelling, and the Performance of Short Pious Narratives - Adrian P. Tudor Reading, Reciting, and Performing the Renart - Kenneth Varty Turkic Bard and Medieval Entertainer: What a Living Epic Tradition Can Tell Us about Oral Performance of Narrative in the Middle Ages - Karl Reichl Beowulf, the Edda, and the Performance of Medieval Epic: Notes from the Workshop of a Reconstructed `Singer of Tales' - Benjamin Bagby The Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: Performance and Intertextuality in Middle English Popular Romance - Linda Marie Zaerr `Une aventure vous dirai': Performing Medieval Narrative - Anne Azéma Sequels [with Nancy Freeman Regalado and Marilyn Lawrence] - Evelyn Birge Vitz Sequels [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Marilyn Lawrence] - Nancy Freeman Regalado Sequels [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Nancy Freeman Regalado] - Marilyn Lawrence
