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IMC 2003: Sessions

Session 1308: Is the Pen Mightier than the Sword?: Issues of Power in Medieval French and Occitan Literature

Wednesday 16 July 2003, 16.30-18.00

Sponsor:Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bristol
Organiser:Catherine E. Léglu, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bristol
Moderator/Chair:James R. Simpson, Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, University of Glasgow
Paper 1308-a'Chronique qui chante ou chanson qui chronique?': Authoring the Power of Bertrand du Guesclin
(Language: English)
Sara I. James, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Hull
Index terms: Language and Literature - French/ Occitan, Military History
Paper 1308-bThe Jeux Floraux: Procession, Poetry and Performance in 14th-Century Toulouse
(Language: English)
Catherine E. Léglu, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Bristol
Index terms: Language and Literature - French/ Occitan, Performance Arts - General, Social History
Paper 1308-cThe Overt and Covert Discourses of the Tristan Material
(Language: English)
James R. Simpson, Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, University of Glasgow
Abstract

This session will explore tensions between authority (in terms of royal, religious, moral or textual authority) and the subject as it is constructed through biography, processional performance and comic text. The three papers will address the many complex ways in which literary representation may attempt to mould the social, sexual and public experiences of their audiences, authors and performers/readers. In particular, issues of power - of the person, and by extension, of the body - will be contrasted with the symbolic view of authority.