The Narreme in the Medieval Romance Epic : An Introduction to Narrative Structures / Eugene Dorfman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dorfman, Eugene, author.

Series:

University of Toronto romance series.

University of Toronto Romance Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poetry, Medieval--History and criticism.

Poetry, Medieval.

Epic poetry, Romance-language--History and criticism.

Epic poetry, Romance-language.

Narration (Rhetoric)--History--To 1500.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Rhetoric, Medieval.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (279 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

In this study Professor Dorfman applies the methods of modern linguistics to literary analysis. Literature may be described as the structured use of language: the modern linguistic analyzes language in a search for the minimal units of sound and form, phoneme and morpheme, and determines the combinations by which they can communicate meaning. The author here searches for a minimal structural unit in the literary narrative analogous to the phoneme and the morpheme in language structure. Based on a detailed analysis of the Roland and the Cid and twelve additional Romance narratives, Professor Dorfman's argument is that the structure of the medieval Romance epics may be analyzed into functional units which he calls "narremes." He divides a narrative into two types of structure: the superstructure and the substructure. A narrative, by definition, is a series of incidents. All the incidents in the narrative, taken as written, form the superstructure. Analysis, however, shows that many of the incidents may be abstracted from the narrative without deflecting the story-line. On the other hand, other incidents reveal themselves as organically linked with each other, so they cannot be omitted, without destroying the story-line. These selected incidents are the narremes, which make up the substructure of the narrative. This method of analysis produces so interesting and surprising results, results which make an important advance in research in linguistics and Romance literature. Eugene Dorfman, as an orthodox structuralist, has focused strictly on the formal descriptions of the narratives; but his analysis leads into the great traditional problems of literary history, and in particular poses anew the problem of the origins of the epic.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgment

Contents

PART ONE. Methods of Functional Analysis

Chapter One. Function and Structure in the Literary Analysis

Chapter Two. The (Sub)Structural Pattern of the French Epics

Chapter Three. The (Sub) Structural Pattern of the Spanish Epics

Chapter Four. The (Sub) Structural Pattern of the Arthurian Romance

PART TWO. A Functional Analysis of the Roland and the Cid

Chapter Five. Chanson de Roland: The Family Quarrel

Chapter Six. Chanson de Roland: The Insult

Chapter Seven. Chanson de Roland: The Act of Treachery

Chapter Eight. Chanson de Roland: The Punishment and Epilogue

Chapter Nine. Cantar de Mio Cid: Prologue and Family Quarrel

Chapter Ten. Cantar de Mio Cid: The Insult

Chapter Eleven. Cantar de Mio Cid: The Act of Treachery

Chapter Twelve. Cantar de Mio Cid: The Punishment and Epilogue

Chapter Thirteen. The Roland and the Cid: Comparison

Chapter Fourteen. Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Jun 2017)

ISBN:

1-4426-3835-4

1-4426-5388-4

OCLC:

992471912