Medieval Boundaries: Rethinking Difference in Old French Literature by Sharon Kinoshita

2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-251
Author(s):  
Katherine McLoone
Keyword(s):  
French Literature ◽  
Old French ◽  
Old French Literature

The Literary Rôle of the Saracens in the French Epic

PMLA ◽  
1940 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Wistar Comfort
Keyword(s):  
French Literature ◽  
Old French ◽  
Tenth Century ◽  
Holy War ◽  
Local Memory ◽  
Old French Literature ◽  
Popular Interest ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Epic Poems

There are historical grounds for the appearance of the Saracens in Old French literature. Their appearance upon French soil had been intermittent from the eighth to the tenth century, but in later centuries the point of contact between Christian and Infidel had been shifted first to Spain, and later to the eastern end of the Mediterranean. In the time of the Crusades the local memory of the presence of the Saracens preserved in popular tradition and in clerical records was utilized by the clerks and jongleurs for the specific purpose of arousing popular interest in the holy war. To state briefly our conclusions concerning the Saracens in Old French literature, we may say that they serve a distinct purpose in the earliest epic poems reflecting contemporary Crusade zeal, and that through the popularity of the epic poems they gained wide currency as exotic, marvellous, or romantic characters in mediaeval story.

Gauvain in Old French Literature

1981 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 956
Author(s):  
David J. Shirt ◽  
Keith Busby
Keyword(s):  
French Literature ◽  
Old French ◽  
Old French Literature

Coins of Old French Literature

Speculum ◽  
1956 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 316-320
Author(s):  
Urban T. Holmes,
Keyword(s):  
French Literature ◽  
Old French ◽  
Old French Literature
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