The New Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance

This new Companion provides a broad and perceptive overview of the most important vernacular literary genre of the Middle Ages. Freshly commissioned original chapters from seventeen leading scholars introduce students and general readers to the form''s poetics narrative voice and manuscript contexts as well as its relationship to the Mediterranean world race gender and the emotions among many other topics. Providing fresh perspectives on the first pan-European literary movement essays range across a broad geographical area including England France Italy Germany and the Iberian Peninsula as well as a varied linguistic spectrum including Arabic Hebrew and Yiddish. Exploring the celebration of chivalric ideals and courtly refinements the volume excavates the tensions and traumas lying beneath decorous surface appearances. An introduction bibliography of texts and translations as well as chapter-by-chapter reading lists complete this essential guide.