Title: Rural space in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age : the spacial turn in premodern studies /
Authors: Classen, Albrecht.; Clason, Christopher R.
Publisher: De Gruyter,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Peasants in literature; Rural conditions in literature.; Literature, Medieval History and criticism; European literature; Ecocriticism.; European literature History and criticism.
Abstract: "Older research on the premodern world limited its focus on the Church, the court, and, more recently, on urban space. The present volume invites readers to consider the meaning of rural space, both in light of ecocritical readings and social-historical approaches. While previous scholars examined the figure of the peasant in the premodern world, the current volume combines a large number of specialized studies that investigate how the natural environment and the appearance of members of the rural population interacted with the world of the court and of the city. The experience in rural space was important already for writers and artists in the premodern era, as the large variety of scholarly approaches indicates. The present volume signals how much the surprisingly close interaction between members of the aristocratic and of the peasant class determined many literary and art-historical works. In a surprisingly large number of cases we can even discover elements of utopia hidden in rural space. We also observe how much the rural world was a significant element already in early-medieval mentality. Moreover, as many authors point out, the impact of natural forces on premodern society was tremendous, if not catastrophic."--Publisher's website.
Contents: Introduction. Rural Space in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times: A Significant Domain Ignored For Too Long by Modern Research? / Albrecht Classen -- Reforming the Monastic Landscape: Peter Damian's Design / Kathryn L. Jasper -- Women's Place and Women's Space in the Medieval Village / Sherri Olson -- "Gebrochen bluomen unde gras": Medieval Ecological Consciousness in Selected Poems by Walther von der Vogelweide / Christopher R. Clason -- Utopian Space in the Countryside: Love and Marriage between a Knight and a Peasant Girl in Medieval German Literature. Hartmann von Aue's Der arme Heinrich, Anonymous, "Dis ist von dem Heselin," Walther von der Vogelweide, Oswald von Wolkenstein, and Late Medieval Popular Poetry / Albrecht Classen -- Rural Space and Agricultural Space in the Old French Fabliaux and the Roman de Renart / Sarah Gordon -- Wood, Court, and River in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi / Andrew Breeze -- Rural Space and Transgressive Space in Bérenger au lonc cul / Penny Simons --