Subjectivity in Troubadour Poetry

This book studies the first-person position adopted by many of the medieval troubadours of southern France in its relation to language and society.

Sarah Kay (Author)

9780521031745, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 2 November 2006

276 pages
21.5 x 13.7 x 1.6 cm, 0.366 kg

The songs of the troubadour poets of the south of France were a pervasive influence in the development of the European lyric (and indeed other genres) from the twelfth century to the Renaissance and beyond. Much troubadour poetry is on the topic of love, and is composed from a first-person position. This book is a full-length study of this first-person subject position in its relation to language and society. Using theoretical approaches where appropriate, Sarah Kay discusses to what extent this first person is a 'self' or 'character', and how far it is self-determining. Dr Kay draws on a wide range of troubadour texts, and provides close readings of many of them, as well as translating all medieval quotations into English in order to make the discussion accessible to the non-specialist. Her book will be of interest both to scholars of medieval literature, and to anybody investigating subjectivity in lyric poetry.

Introduction
1. Indeterminacy of meaning
2. Allegory
3. Gender and status
4. Performance
5. Romance appropriations
Conclusion
Notes
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]