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IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 717: Between Encyclopaedia and Physiologus: The Literary Animal in between Zoology and Allegorical Interpretation, I - Texts

Tuesday 8 July 2008, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliches Forschungszentrum Mainz - Trier (HKFZ) / Animaliter-Projekt
Organiser:Sabine Obermaier, Deutsches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Moderator/Chair:An Smets, Instituut voor Middeleeuwse Studies, KU Leuven
Paper 717-aBedeutungssetzung zwischen Tierkunde und Tierallegorese: Die Porus-Episode im 'Straßburger Alexander'
(Language: Deutsch)
Sabine Obermaier, Deutsches Institut, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Paper 717-bAnimals in Anglo-Saxon Literature and Mythology
(Language: English)
Kathrin Prietzel, School of English, Queen's University Belfast
Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English
Paper 717-cDu nom à la chose: A propos de la difficulté d'identifier les animaux médiévaux
(Language: Français)
Claire Wille, Fonds National pour la Recherche Scientifique Suisse / Romanisches Seminar, Universität Zürich
Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Language and Literature - Latin
Abstract

Animals are omnipresent in medieval literature. However, the Physiologus tradition, the bestiaries, and also the medieval encyclopaedias often provide an insufficient framework for the interpretation of literary animals. Thus, the aim of this section is to explore the relation between literary animal depiction, Christian allegorical interpretation, and medieval zoology. Furthermore, we are interested in an evaluation of the literary innovations that occur in the presentation of animals within a poetics that does not cater for poetic innovation. The first part of the section focuses on literary texts for which the animal motif and its relation to the tradition have not yet been sufficiently researched.