The Troubadours An Introduction

A general introduction for students to the world of troubadours: poets, poetry, music and culture.

The dazzling culture of the troubadours - the virtuosity of their songs, the subtlety of their exploration of love, and the glamorous international careers some troubadours enjoyed - fascinated contemporaries and had a lasting influence on European life and literature. Apart from the refined love songs for which the troubadours are renowned, the tradition includes political and satirical poetry, devotional lyrics and bawdy or zany poems. It is also in the troubadour song-books that the only substantial collection of medieval lyrics by women is preserved. This book offers a general introduction to the troubadours. Its sixteen newly-commissioned essays, written by leading scholars from Britain, the US, France, Italy and Spain, trace the historical development and setting of troubadour song, engage with the main trends in troubadour criticism, and examine the reception of troubadour poetry. Appendices offer an invaluable guide to the troubadours, to technical vocabulary, to research tools and to surviving manuscripts.

Preface: How to use this book; Introduction Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay; 1. Courtly culture in medieval Occitania Ruth Harvey; 2. Fin' amor and the development of the courtly canso Linda Paterson; 3. Moral and satirical poetry Catherine Léglu; 4. Early troubadours: Guilhem IX to Bernart de Ventadorn Stephen G. Nichols; 5. The classical period: Raimbaut d'Aurenga to Arnaut Daniel Gérard Gouiran; 6. Later troubadours Michael Routledge; 7. The trobairitz Tilde Sankovitch; 8. Italian and Catalan troubadours Miriam Cabré; 9. Music and versification Margaret Switten; 10. Rhetoric and hermeneutics Sarah Spence; 11. Intertextuality and dialogism in the troubadours Maria Luisa Meneghetti; 12. The troubadours at play: irony, parody and burlesque Don Monson; 13. Desire and subjectivity Sarah Kay; 14. Orality and writing: the text of the troubadour poem Simon Gaunt; 15 The Chansonniers as books William Burgwinkle; 16. Troubadour lyric and Old French narrative Sylvia Huot; Appendices; Bibliography.

This book offers a general introduction to the dazzling world of the troubadours. Its sixteen newly-commissioned essays discuss the development of troubadour song, the main trends in troubadour scholarship, and the reception of troubadour poetry. Appendices offer an invaluable guide to troubadours, technical vocabulary, research tools and surviving manuscripts.