Romance and History

To what extent can imaginative events be situated in time and history? From the medieval to the early modern period this question is intriguingly explored in the expansive literary genre of romance. This collective study edited by Jon Whitman is the first systematic investigation of that formative process during more than four hundred years. While concentrating on changing configurations of romance itself the volume examines a number of important related reference points from epic to chronicle to critical theory. Recalling but qualifying conventional approaches to the three ''matters'' of Rome Britain and France the far-reaching inquiry engages major works in a variety of idioms including Latin French English German Italian and Spanish. With contributions from a range of internationally distinguished scholars this unique volume offers a carefully coordinated framework for enriching not only the reading of romance but also the understanding of changing attitudes toward the temporal process at large.