Academic literature on the topic 'Epic poetry, Romance-language'

Based on the compositions of pre-courteous epic poetry and chivalric romance written in the Middle High German language, this article reviews the problem of lexical polysemy in relation to the phenomena of homonymy and synonymy, as well as the problem of structural description of lexis. The need for comprehensive examination of polysemous lexemes in the Middle High German language, which includes structural analysis of the meaning of polysemous word and the lexical-thematic group and/or synonymic row it belongs to, well as the study of contextual implementation of the meanings of polysemous word, is substantiated by the principle of diffusivity of meanings of polysemous word that complicates comprising dictionary definitions and creates difficulties for the researcher in distinguishing the meanings of a polysemous word and separating polysemy from homonymy. Based on the example of lexical-thematic group for denomination of edged weapon in the Middle High German Language, the author demonstrates the appropriateness of using lexical-semantic analysis for establishing systemic relations between the analyzed lexemes, as well as postulates the importance of the context in determination of the structure of polysemous word. Discussion of the given examples from the compositions of pre-courteous epic poetry and chivalric romance written in the Middle High German language is accompanied by the author’s clarifications to the dictionary definitions of the lexemes under review. The conclusion is made on feasibility of the authorial approach towards detection of the discrepancies between lexicographic data and use of the lexeme in the texts written in the Middle High German language. The author also believes that this research is valuable from the perspective of lexicographic practice.

The article is a review of the most important trends in the development of the Polish epic in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the absence of significant traditions of knightly works, the creation of Polish heroic poetry should be associated primarily with the humanistic movement, whose representatives set a heroic epic at the top of the hierarchy of genres and recognized 'Eneid' as its primary model. The postulate proposed first by the Renaissance and later by the Baroque authors did not lead to the creation of a ‘real’ epic in Poland. The translations of: the Virgil’s epic poem (1590) by Andrzej Kochanowski and Book 3 of 'The Iliad' by Jan Kochanowski can be regarded as the genre substitutes. These translations seem to test whether the young Polish poetic language is able to bear the burden of an epic matter. Then again, the works of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski on the Latin 'Lechias' (the 1st half of the 17th century), which was to present the beginnings of the Polish state, were not completed. Polish Renaissance authors preferred themes from modern or even recent history, choosing 'Bellum civile' by Lucan as their general model but they did not refrain from typically heroic means in the presentation of the subject. This is evidenced by such poems as 'The Prussian War' (1516) by Joannis Vislicensis or 'Radivilias' (1592) by Jan Radwan. The Latin epic works were followed by the vernacular epic in the 17th century, when the historical epic poems by Samuel Twardowski and Wacław Potocki were created, as well as in the 18th century (the example of 'The Khotyn War' by Ignacy Krasicki). The publication of Torquato Tasso’s 'Jerusalem delivered' translation by Piotr Kochanowski in 1618 introduced to the Polish literature a third variant of an epic poem, which is a combination of a heroic poem and romance motives. The translation gained enormous recognition among literary audiences and was quickly included in the canon of imitated works, but not as a model of an epic, but mainly as a source of ideas and poetic phrases (it was used not only by epic poets). The exception here is the anonymous epos entitled 'The siege of Jasna Góra of Częstochowa', whose author spiced the historical action of the recent event with romance themes, an evident reference to the Tasso’s poem. The Polish translation of Tasso’s masterpiece also contributed to the popularity of the ottava rima, as an epic verse from the second half of the 17th century (previously the Polish alexandrine dominated as the equivalent of the ancient hexameter). This verse was used both in the historical and biblical epic poems, striving to face the rhythmic challenge.

Much of the fascination that Petronius' Satyricon holds for its readers originates in the work's gleeful violation of traditional categories of classical genres. Critical terminology makes explicit the issue of unconventionality, as it is reduced to the neutral word ‘work’ in describing the Satyricon, which, as far as we can tell, belongs to no single category (e.g. novel, romance, satire), but appropriates elements from many sources in both poetry and prose. Perhaps if we had more evidence with which to compare the work, such as a greater selection of Menippean satire or proto-novels from antiquity, we might be able to identify it more accurately. But the suspicion remains that the intense variety of its evocations, allusions, and parodic passages differentiates it clearly from its component genres without allowing it to settle firmly in any one established genre. A certain amount of ‘Kreuzung der Gattungen’ is, of course, typical of both Alexandrian and consequently Roman texts. But the Satyricon seems to revel in its generic instability; it plays with the notion of ‘literariness’ by revealing impulses from non-literary forms such as mime and subliterary prose fiction, raising this material to an unfamiliar level of literary sophistication even as it debases other traditional genres (e.g. epic) through parodic techniques. One of the results of this open experimentation with style and decorum is an extremely dense fabric of literary (and sub-literary) allusion which some would label ‘literary opportunism’. The reader quickly learns to expect intertextual pyrotechnics, swift changes from the sublime to the ridiculous, and humorous incongruities in plot and form, as the stylistic disorder of the text reflects the topsyturvy Petronian world. The modern reader's response to this profusion of referents is to explore the recognizable categories and sources embedded in the work, to tease out the familiar elements in the hope of gaining a better understanding of the whole. Since a great deal of the allusion in the Satyricon functions parodically, there is yet another step necessary in the interpretation, namely taking into account the effect of the decontextualization of language and events from the source material and their recombination and transformation into the new text.