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IMC 2019: Sessions

Session 111: Rages, Rampages, and Wounds: Emotions in Epic Literature

Monday 1 July 2019, 11.15-12.45

Sponsor:Société Rencesvals British Branch
Organiser:Hailey Ogle, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies / School of Modern Languages, University of St. Andrews
Moderator/Chair:Emma Campbell, Department of French Studies, University of Warwick
Paper 111-aHurling Spears and Burning Convents: Anger in Raoul de Cambrai
(Language: English)
Hailey Ogle, St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies / School of Modern Languages, University of St. Andrews
Index terms: Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Mentalities, Politics and Diplomacy
Paper 111-bLegitimizing Arthur’s Rule: Wounding and Emotions in Off Arthour & Of Merlin
(Language: English)
Laura Bernardazzi, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York
Index terms: Language and Literature - Comparative, Language and Literature - Middle English, Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Medicine
Paper 111-cEmotions, Actions, and Outcomes: A Comparative Analysis of the Relatio metrica and La Destruction de Rome
(Language: English)
Amanda Swinford, Department of History, Portland State University, Oregon
Index terms: Language and Literature - Comparative, Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Language and Literature - Latin, Religious Life
Abstract

Emotions are an intrinsic element of medieval epic literature. Their representation, performance, and function in a specific text offer critical insights into the social, political, religious, and cultural world within which that text was produced and transmitted. The papers in this session will examine the ways in which emotions are deeply connected to cultural ideologies; how the presence of emotions in a text can change the emotive response of the text's intended audience; and how emotions drive and prompt physical actions and responses. Analysing medieval French, English, and Latin literatures of the high and late Middle Ages, this session will ultimately demonstrate the benefit, and indeed, necessity of the study of emotions in medieval literatures.