Arthurian Literature XIX

Articles on comedy in Arthurian romance - French Dutch Italian Scottish and English. The texts analyzed underline the wide dissemination of the Arthurian story in medieval and post-medieval Europe from Scotland to Italy while the various analyses of the manifestations of comedy refute the notion of romance as ahumourless genre. Indeed the comic treatment of conventional themes and motifs appears to be not only characteristic of later romance but an essential element of the genre from its beginnings and from its earliest development. Authors of Arthurian romance from Chrétien de Troyes to Malory writing in French Italian Middle Dutch and Middle English and the creators of an Irish prose-tale all question the fundamental assumptions of romance and romancevalues through the medium of comedy. The theme of comedy in Arthurian romance has been developed from the orignal session at the Arthurian Congress in Toulouse. Contributors: ELIZABETH ARCHIBALD FRANK BRANDSMA CHRISTINE FERLAMPIN-ACHER LINDA GOWANS DONALD L. HOFFMAN MARGOLEIN HOGENBIRK NORRIS J. LACY MARILYN LAWRENCE BENEDICTE MILLAND-BOVE PETER S. NOBLE KAREN PRATT ANGELICA RIEGER ELIZABETH S. SKLAR FRANCESCO ZAMBON.