Tradition and Transformation in Medieval Romance [Hardcover]

From the insular romance of the twelfth century (vital to an understanding of the literary and historical context of medieval English literature) to the era of the printed book, romance challenges generic definition, audience expectation and established scholarly approaches. This third volume of papers from the regular conference on Romance in Medieval England uses a broad range of material and methodologies to illuminate the subject. Topics include the strategies and audiences of crusading romances, the deployment by Chaucer and Gower of romance theme and style, a re-evaluation of the text of Gamelyn, and the shifting generic boundaries between romance, exemplum and legal narrative. Other papers explore the transformation of traditional material on the revenant dead and the divided family from ancient literary texts to the prose romances of the sixteenth century. Dr ROSALIND FIELD teaches in the Department of English at Royal Holloway, University of London. Contributors: JUDITH WEISS, STEPHEN KNIGHT, NOEL JAMES MENUGE, DIANE SPEED, ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, PHILLIPA HARDMAN, ROBERT WARM, JOERG FICHTE, NANCY MASON BRADBURY, JEREMY DIMMICK, ELIZABETH ARCHIBALD, HELEN COOPERRomance studies from the twelfth century to the era of the printed book.Introduction - Rosalind FieldThomas and the earl: literary and historical contexts for the Romance of Horn - `Herkeneth aright': reading Gamelyn for text not context - Stephen KnightThe Wardship Romance: a new methodology - Middle English romance and the Gesta Romanorum - Diane SpeedSir Amadance and the undisenchanted bride: the relation of the Middle English romance to the folk tradition of `The Grateful Dead'Dead' - Elizabeth WilliamsThe Sege of Melayne: a fifteenth-century reading - Phillipa HardmanIdentity, narrative and participation: defining a context for the middle English Charlemagne romances - Robert WarmCaxton's concept of `Historical Romance' within the context of the crusades: conviction rhetoric and sales strategy - Joeló!