The ‘Roman de la Rose' and Thirteenth-Century Thought

The first truly in-depth, interdisciplinary study of philosophical questions in the seminal medieval literary work, the Roman de la Rose.

Jonathan Morton (Edited by), Marco Nievergelt (Edited by), John Marenbon (With)

9781108443197, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 11 August 2022

337 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.454 kg

'This collection of articles will provide students and scholars with useful insights into the philosophical thoughts which informed [the Roman's] composition.' Christine McWebb, Speculum

The thirteenth-century allegorical dream vision, the Roman de la Rose, transformed how medieval literary texts engaged with philosophical ideas. Written in Old French, its influence dominated French, English and Italian literature for the next two centuries, serving in particular as a model for Chaucer and Dante. Jean de Meun's section of this extensive, complex and dazzling work is notable for its sophisticated responses to a whole host of contemporary philosophical debates. This collection brings together literary scholars and historians of philosophy to produce the most thorough, interdisciplinary study to date of how the Rose uses poetry to articulate philosophical problems and positions. This wide-ranging collection demonstrates the importance of the poem for medieval intellectual history and offers new insights into the philosophical potential both of the Rose specifically and of medieval poetry as a whole.

Part I. Epistemology and Language: 1. The mechanisms of belief: Jean de Meun's implicit epistemology Christophe Grellard (translated by Jonathan Morton and Marco Nievergelt)
2. Visual experiences and allegorical fiction: the lexis and paradigm of fantasie in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose Fabienne Pomel (translated by Jonathan Morton and Marco Nievergelt)
3. Imposition, equivocation, and intention: language and signification in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose and thirteenth-century grammar and logic Marco Nievergelt
4. Sophisms and sophistry in the Roman de la Rose Jonathan Morton
Part II. Natural Law, Politics, and Society: 5. The personal and the political: love and society in the Roman de la Rose Juhana Toivanen
6. Human nature and the natural law in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose Philip Knox
7. A politico-communal re-reading of the Rose: the Fiore Attributed to Dante Alighieri Antonio Montefusco (translated by Jonathan Morton and Marco Nievergelt)
Part III. Unfinished Business: Forms of Writing, Forms of Knowledge: 8. Jean de Meun, Boethius, and thirteenth-century philosophy John Marenbon
9. The romance of the non-rose: echoes and subversions of negative theology in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose Alice Lamy (translated by Jonathan Morton and Marco Nievergelt)
10. Metalepsis and allegory: the unity of the Roman de la Rose Luciano Rossi (translated by Jonathan Morton and Marco Nievergelt).

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Medieval & Renaissance, c 500 to c 1600 [HPCB], Medieval history [HBLC1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]