Medieval Narratives between History and Fiction
From the Centre to the Periphery of Europe, c. 1100-1400
9788763538091
Distributed for Museum Tusculanum Press
Medieval Narratives between History and Fiction
From the Centre to the Periphery of Europe, c. 1100-1400
The rise of literary fiction in medieval Europe has been a hotly debated topic among scholars, but until now that debate has come with severe limitations, focusing on “modern” French and German romances of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In Medieval Narratives between History and Fiction, editors Panagiotis A. Agapitos and Lars Boje Mortensen look outside of this box, collecting texts in Greek, Latin, Old Norse, and Serbian that do not necessarily conform to modern or genre labels. In taking such a peripheral view, the editors show that we should not think of a “rise of fiction” per se, but rather we should think of fiction as a potential always imbued in and related to historical narratives.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Panagiotis A. Agapitos and Lars Boje Mortensen
Historical Fiction in the Graeco-Roman World: Cyrus, Alexander, Apollonius
Tomas Hägg
The Rise of Medieval Fiction in the Twelfth Century
Dennis H. Green
Fictionality in the Medieval Latin Novel
Paul Gerhard Schmidt
Speak, Fiction: The Rhetorical Fabrication of Narrative in Geoffrey of Monmouth
P. M. Mehtonen
The Status of the ‘Mythical’ Past in Nordic Latin Historiography (c. 1170—1220)
Lars Boje Mortensen
True Records and Events that Could Have Taken Place: Fictionality in Vision Literature
Jonas Wellendorf
The Growth of Consciousness of Fiction in Old Norse Culture
Else Mundal
Authentication and Authenticity in the Sagas of Icelanders and Serbian Epic Poetry
Slavica Rankovic
In Rhomaian, Persian and Frankish Lands: Fiction and Fictionality in Byzantium
Pangiotis A. Agapitos
Contributors
General Index
Introduction
Panagiotis A. Agapitos and Lars Boje Mortensen
Historical Fiction in the Graeco-Roman World: Cyrus, Alexander, Apollonius
Tomas Hägg
The Rise of Medieval Fiction in the Twelfth Century
Dennis H. Green
Fictionality in the Medieval Latin Novel
Paul Gerhard Schmidt
Speak, Fiction: The Rhetorical Fabrication of Narrative in Geoffrey of Monmouth
P. M. Mehtonen
The Status of the ‘Mythical’ Past in Nordic Latin Historiography (c. 1170—1220)
Lars Boje Mortensen
True Records and Events that Could Have Taken Place: Fictionality in Vision Literature
Jonas Wellendorf
The Growth of Consciousness of Fiction in Old Norse Culture
Else Mundal
Authentication and Authenticity in the Sagas of Icelanders and Serbian Epic Poetry
Slavica Rankovic
In Rhomaian, Persian and Frankish Lands: Fiction and Fictionality in Byzantium
Pangiotis A. Agapitos
Contributors
General Index