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From Petrarch and Dante to Pound and Eliot, the influence of the troubadours on European poetry has been profound. They have rightly stimulated a vast amount of critical writing, but the majority of modern critics see the troubadour tradition as a corpus of earnestly serious and confessional love poetry, with little or no humour. Troubadours and Irony re-examines the work of five early troubadours, namely Marcabru, Bernart Marti, Peire d'Alvernha, Raimbaut d'Aurenga and Giraut de Borneil, to argue that the courtly poetry of southern France in the twelfth century was permeated with irony and that many troubadour songs were playful, laced with humorous sexual innuendo and far from serious; attention is also drawn to the large corpus of texts that are not love poems, but comic or satirical songs.

Poetry --- Provençal, Occitan literature --- Provencal poetry --- Civilization, Medieval, in literature. --- Courtly love in literature. --- Irony in literature. --- Sex in literature. --- Troubadours. --- History and criticism. --- Provençal poetry --- Arts and Humanities --- Literature --- Provencal poetry - History and criticism. --- Jongleurs --- Troubadors --- Musicians --- Poets --- Courtly love --- Trouvères

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Le Devisement du Monde' (1298), better though inaccurately known in English as 'Marco Polo's Travels', is one of only a handful of medieval texts that remain iconic today for European cultural history, and Marco Polo is one of only a handful of medieval writers who still enjoys instant name-recognition. Yet there is little awareness of the 'Devisement's' complex history and development. This book examines the text from a fresh, literary viewpoint, drawing upon a range of different disciplines and approaches: philology, manuscript studies, narratology, cultural history, postcolonial studies and theory. It contains comparative readings of multiple versions of the text in French, Italian and Latin, Rather than offering a Eurocentric vision of the world grounded in a sense of the absolute alterity of the non-Christian world as is often asserted, the author shows how the 'Devisement' expounds a sense of the relative nature of difference, crucially positioning Marco uncannily between two worlds (East and West), just as he is positioned awkwardly between two languages, French and Italian, and (in modern reception at least) awkwardly between two literary histories. The author also calls into question traditional accounts of the use of French outside France in the Middle Ages and offers a re-assessment of Marco Polo's position in the evolution of European travel writing. Simon Gaunt is Professor of French Language and Literature at King's College London.

Travelers' writings, Italian --- Italian literature --- Ecrits de voyageurs italiens --- Littérature italienne --- History and criticism --- History and criticism. --- Histoire et critique --- Polo, Marco, --- Littérature italienne --- Italian literature - To 1400 - History and criticism --- Travelers' writings, Italian - History and criticism --- Polo, Marco, - 1254-1323? - Travels of Marco Polo --- Cultural History. --- Devisement du Monde. --- East and West. --- European travel writing. --- Language. --- Le Devisement du Monde. --- Literature. --- Marco Polo. --- Medieval. --- Travel. --- cultural history. --- linguistic diversity. --- medieval texts. --- narrative voice.

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Italian literature --- Polo, Marco

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The dazzling culture of the troubadours - the virtuosity of their songs, the subtlety of their exploration of love, and the glamorous international careers some troubadours enjoyed - fascinated contemporaries and had a lasting influence on European life and literature. Apart from the refined love songs for which the troubadours are renowned, the tradition includes political and satirical poetry, devotional lyrics and bawdy or zany poems. It is also in the troubadour song-books that the only substantial collection of medieval lyrics by women is preserved. This book offers a general introduction to the troubadours. Its sixteen newly-commissioned essays, written by leading scholars from Britain, the US, France, Italy and Spain, trace the historical development and setting of troubadour song, engage with the main trends in troubadour criticism, and examine the reception of troubadour poetry. Appendices offer an invaluable guide to the troubadours, to technical vocabulary, to research tools and to surviving manuscripts.

Poetry --- Provençal, Occitan literature --- Troubadours. --- Provençal poetry --- Civilization, Medieval, in literature --- Courtly love in literature. --- Courtly love in music --- Love in literature. --- Provençal poetry. --- Love poetry, Provençal. --- Troubadours --- Poésie provençale --- Civilisation médiévale dans la littérature --- Amour courtois dans la littérature --- Amour dans la littérature --- Poésie d'amour provencale --- History and criticism. --- Histoire et critique --- 849.0 --- Provencaalse literatuur --- Provencal poetry --- Provençal poetry --- 849.0 Provencaalse literatuur --- Provençal poetry. --- Love poetry, Provençal. --- Poésie provençale --- Civilisation médiévale dans la littérature --- Amour courtois dans la littérature --- Amour dans la littérature --- Poésie d'amour provencale --- Jongleurs --- Troubadors --- Musicians --- Poets --- Courtly love --- Trouvères --- History and criticism --- Arts and Humanities --- Literature