Reveries of community : French epic in the age of Henri IV, 1572-1616 / Katherine S. Maynard.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maynard, Katherine S., author.

Series:

Rethinking the Early Modern

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Ronsard, Pierre de, 1524-1585. Franciade.

Ronsard, Pierre de.

Du Bartas, Guillaume de Salluste, seigneur, 1544-1590--Criticism and interpretation.

Du Bartas, Guillaume de Salluste.

Garnier, Sebastien, -1595. Henriade.

Garnier, Sebastien.

Palma-Cayet, Pierre-Victor, 1525-1610. Heptameron de la Navarride.

Palma-Cayet, Pierre-Victor.

Aubigné, Agrippa d', 1552-1630. Tragiques.

Aubigné, Agrippa d'.

Du Bartas, Guillaume de Salluste, seigneur, 1544-1590.

Epic poetry, French--History and criticism.

Epic poetry, French.

French poetry--16th century--History and criticism.

French poetry.

French poetry--17th century--History and criticism.

History.

Criticism and interpretation.

France--History--Henry IV, 1589-1610--In literature.

France.

France--History--Wars of the Huguenots, 1562-1598--In literature.

Physical Description:

x, 183 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Evanston, Illinois : Northwestern University Press, 2018.

Language Note:

English with French accompanied by English translation.

Summary:

"Reveries of Community reconsiders the role of epic poetry during the French Wars of Religion, the series of wars between Catholics and Protestants that dominated France between 1562 and 1598. Critics have often viewed French epic poetry as a casualty of these wars, arguing that the few epics France produced during this conflict failed in power and influence compared to those of France's neighbors, such as Italy's Orlando Furioso, England's Faerie Queene, and Portugal's Os Lusiadas. Katherine Maynard argues instead that the wars did not hinder epic poetry, but rather French poets responded to the crisis by using epic poetry to reimagine France's present and future. Traditionally united by une foi, une loi, un roi (one faith, one law, one king), France under Henri IV was cleaved into warring factions of Catholics and Huguenots. The country suffered episodes of bloodshed such as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, even as attempts were made to attenuate the violence through frequent edicts, such as those of St. Germain (1570) and Nantes (1598). Maynard examines the rich and often dismissed body [of] work written during these bloody decades: Pierre de Ronsard's Franciade, Guillaume Salluste Du Bartas's La Judit and La Sepmaine, Sébastian Garnier's La Henriade, Agrippa d'Aubigné's Les Tragiques, and others. She traces how French poets, taking classics such as Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad as their models, reimagined possibilities for French reconciliation and unity."--Publisher's summary.

Contents:

Introduction : epic for a time of crisis

Empires of erasure in Pierre de Ronsard's Franciade

Region, nation, and empire in the long poems of Guillaume Salluste du Bartas (1574-1590)

Epic and nation in an age of reconstruction : Sebastien Garnier's Henriade (1593/1594)

Peace, fertility, and empire in Pierre-Victor Palma Cayet's Heptameron de la Navarride

Re-forming communities in Agrippa d'Aubigne's Les tragiques

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780810135840

0810135841

9780810135833

0810135833

OCLC:

975459354