Kaiserchronik

A Medieval Narrative
1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-0-19-965699-8
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 210 Seiten, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 222 mm, Gewicht: 434 g

Reihe: Oxford Modern Languages and Literature Monographs

This book presents a narratological analysis of the Kaiserchronik, or chronicle of the emperors, the first verse chronicle to have been written in any European vernacular language, which provides an account of the Roman and Holy Roman emperors from the foundation of Rome to the eve of the Second Crusade. Previous research has concentrated on the structure and sources of the work and emphasized its role as a Christian narrative of history, but this study shows that the Kaiserchronik does not simply illustrate a didactic religious message: it also provides an example of how story-telling techniques in the vernacular were developed and explored in twelfth-century Germany. Four aspects of narrative are described (time and space, motivation, perspective, and narrative strands), each of which is examined with reference to the story of a particular emperor (Constantine the Great, Charlemagne, Otto the Great, and Henry IV). Rather than imposing a single analytical framework on the Kaiserchronik, the book takes account of the fact that modern theory cannot always be applied directly to works from premodern periods: it draws critically on a variety of approaches, including those of Gérard Genette, Boris Uspensky, and Eberhard Lämmert. Throughout the book, the narrative techniques described are contextualized by means of comparisons with other texts in both Middle High German and Latin, making clear the place of the Kaiserchronik as a literary narrative in the twelfth century.

Zielgruppe

Students and scholars of medieval literature.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Matthews, Alastair

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Abbreviations, Translations, References
1: Introduction
2: Time, Place, and Space: Constantine the Great
3: Motivation: Charlemagne
4: Perspective: Otto the Great
5: Strands and Embedding: Henry IV and Godfrey of Bouillon
6: Conclusion
References

Über Autor(innen)

Matthews, Alastair
Alastair Matthews specializes in theoretical approaches to medieval German narrative literature. He was awarded his doctorate at the University of Oxford in 2009 and held a Junior Research Fellowship at Somerville College, where he examined concepts of character and the self in Middle High German texts. He is currently a Theodor Heuss Research Fellow at the University of Bonn, where he is working on a study of Lohengrin, and am also an active translator.

Alastair Matthews specializes in theoretical approaches to medieval German narrative literature. He was awarded his doctorate at the University of Oxford in 2009 and held a Junior Research Fellowship at Somerville College, where he examined concepts of character and the self in Middle High German texts. He is currently a Theodor Heuss Research Fellow at the University of Bonn, where he is working on a study of Lohengrin, and is also an active translator.