The Presentation of Authorship in Medieval German Narrative Literature 1220-1290

by Sebastian Coxon

Overview

This book sheds light on the complexity of medieval German literary culture as it evolved in the course of the thirteenth century (c. 1220-1920) by analysing the attitudes of narrative poets towards the issue of authorship. It describes the various ways in which vernacular writers could address the theme of their own authorship within their literary works, and explores the tensions that arose between such authorial strategies on the one hand and their subsequent manuscript transmission on the other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198160175
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	04/05/2001
Series:	Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs Series
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sebastian Coxon is Lecturer in German, Somerville College, Oxford

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
1. Introduction: the Author in the Text
Authorship at the Heart of Literary Tradition
2. Rudolf von Ems and the Art of Authorial Self-Reference
3. Patronage, Co-operation, and Artistic Self-Assurance: Aspects of Authorship in the Narrative Works of Konrad von Würzburg
Authorship on the Boundary with Orality
4. The Author Displaced, the Author Restored: the Case of the Later Heroic Epic
5. Expansive and Cursory Presentation of Authorship in the Secular Short Story
6. Conclusion: the Medieval Author in the Text
Bibliography
Index of Names
Index of Subjects

Editorial Reviews

"Indeed its engaging and accessible prose . . . and compelling argument are sure to inspire more interest in thirteenth-century German literature and literary culture. . . . [An] excellent study"—Speculum

From the Publisher