The Medieval Greek Romance.

BEATON, R.,

ISBN 10: 0521333350 / ISBN 13: 9780521333351

Editore: Cambridge University Press, 1989

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Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (.), 1989. XVII,261p. Hard bound. Cover and spine gilt titled. ?The genre of the novel/romance appeared in late antiquity and became extremely popular; its popularity extended into the Byzantine period, almost without interruption; some ancient novelists, such as Heliodorus, were admired in Greece throughout the Middle Ages. Moreover, the Byzantines eventually developed their own genre of the novel. The study of this genre had been rather neglected by nineteenth-century scholars. (?) The serious study of the ancient and medieval Greek novels began in the last thirty to forty years, and research in this popular genre has been growing steadily. (?) In spite of this scholarly attention, however, the Byzantine novels/romances are not as well known as their ancient predecessors. (?) Professor Beaton, the well-known scholar of medieval and modern Greek literature, has put us all in his debt by producing this informative, albeit slim, volume on this neglected topic. His book is meticulously researched, highly readable, and extremely well organized. It formally covers the period from 1071 to 1453, but through constant reference to the Hellenistic predecessor of the Byzantine novel and to its modern Greek successors a larger period is in fact examined. Even though we are told that this study is intended for the nonspecialist, it will be of immense value to specialists.? (MARIOS PHILIPPIDES in Speculum, 1993, p.105).

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Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: The Medieval Greek Romance.
• Editore: Cambridge University Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 1989
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0521333350
• ISBN 13: 9780521333351
• Rilegatura: Rilegato

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

There has never been a full study in any language of the contribution to medieval fiction of entertainment by writers in Greek. This book fills that gap and provides basic information for the non-specialist about Greek fiction during the period 1071–1453, as well as proposing new solutions to problems that have vexed previous generations of scholars. The most important advances made by the book are the application for the first time of sophisticated methods of literary analysis to the material, and the bridging of the artificial gap that in the past has separated 'Byzantine' literature, in a form of ancient Greek, from 'Modern Greek' writing, in the vernacular. As a result, it is argued that the long tradition of romance writing in Greek is both much more homogeneous, and of far greater literary sophistication, than has previously been realised. Throughout, consideration is given to relations and interconnections with similar literature in western Europe. There is a substantial, up-to-date bibliography.

Contenuti

Preface; Note on transliteration; Maps; Introduction; Part I. 1071–1204: 1. The twelfth-century background; 2. The literary tradition; 3. The 'proto romance' Diyenis Akritis; 4. The renaissance of a genre; 5. The twelfth-century texts; Part II. 1204–1453: 6. The first 'modern Greek' literature; 7. The original romances: the texts and their stories; 8. The original romances: narrative structure; 9. Translations and adaptations of western romances; 10. Genealogy of the romances; 11. Common elements of the romances: oral background vs textual interference; 12. Reception Conclusions; Notes; References.