IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 1010: Medieval Romance Relationships, I: Assessing Friendship

Wednesday 3 July 2019, 09.00-10.30

Organiser:	Hannah Piercy, Institute of Medieval & Early Modern Studies, Durham University
Moderator/Chair:	Kirsty A. S. Bolton, Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Culture / Department of English, University of Southampton
Paper 1010-a	Guy of Warwick: A Knight in Need of 'Socour' (Language: English) James T. Stewart, Department of English, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Index terms: Language and Literature - Middle English, Language and Literature - French or Occitan
Paper 1010-b	What's a Kiss between Friends: Kissing as a Model of Friendship in the French Romance Ami et Amile (Language: English) Meghan Woolley, Department of History, Duke University Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Mentalities, Political Thought
Paper 1010-c	Good, Better, Best: Superlative and Comparative Relationships in Amis and Amiloun (Language: English) Lucy Brookes, Faculty of English Language & Literature / Worcester College, University of Oxford Index terms: Daily Life, Language and Literature - Middle English, Sexuality
Abstract	The first session in this series of panels assesses particular aspects of friendship portrayed in three different texts. James T. Stewart evaluates references to 'socour' in Guy of Warwick to argue that this text promotes ideals of co-operative chivalry. Meghan Woolley and Lucy Brookes then consider the French and Middle English versions of the Amis and Amile story. Meghan Woolley suggests that kissing in Ami e Amile represents a model of friendship based on physical affection rather than contractual obligation, while Lucy Brookes argues that Amis and Amiloun manipulates the convention of superlative portrayals in romance to suggest a hierarchy of different kinds of relationships.