Romance of Flamenca

Variously described as a comedy of manners a psychological romance and a type of fabliau the 13th-century narrative Flamenca is the best medieval romance written in Occitan. Its uniqueness springs from qualities that anticipate the preoccupations of modern-day narrative. Not content with being a love story fraught with risk and intrigue the poem is layered with responses to the troubadour tradition of love and poetry as well as the Bible and the classics. Though among the most bookish of romances its tone is invariably ironic comic and satirical. This playfulness may be measured by the variety and vehemence of critical response to the poem. Is it a vindication of the troubadour ideal a mockery of the Church a satire on jealous husbands or an undermining of the ideals that romance is said to inscribe? Or is it all of these elements held in suspense? The introduction confronts these questions. The most recent edition and translation of Flamenca by Hubert and Porter is now out of print; their translation was into octosyllabic couplets that match the original. Blodgett's translation is unrhymed and line-for-line on pages facing the edition; it adhers as closely as possible to the literal meaning of the original. The edition follows the recent text prepared by Gschwind.