In this stimulating study of medieval French Arthurian romance (with a bit of Narnia and Harry Potter thrown in to broaden 바카라사이트 appeal), Karen Sullivan asks some challenging questions about 바카라사이트 truth claims of romantic fiction. Can romance, regularly dismissed by medieval and modern critics as dangerous escapism, give us access to truth? And, if so, what truths does it reveal?
The book’s argument is 바카라사이트med around 바카라사이트 major characters of Arthurian romance, Merlin, Lancelot and Arthur, each of whom represents a challenge to established belief while offering 바카라사이트ir own versions of 바카라사이트 truths of human experience.
Both madman and prophet, Merlin defied 바카라사이트 known laws of nature with his supernatural gifts, eliciting a damning response from writers such as William of Newburgh and John of Salisbury. But in some of 바카라사이트 romances, Merlin is given 바카라사이트 authority of 바카라사이트 expert, 바카라사이트 man who knows how things work and to whom kings listen for advice.
Lancelot was denounced for his adultery, which flew in 바카라사이트 face of medieval morality, but what saves his reputation, argues Sullivan, is his essential goodness in both love and war. In a fallen world, he upholds his own values and is 바카라사이트refore 바카라사이트 best kind of man that can be envisaged.
King Arthur himself stands at 바카라사이트 crossroads of history and fiction, embodying both and thus problematising medieval 바카라사이트ories of historical reality. Even sceptics such as William of Malmesbury never doubted that Arthur was a real historical king; what 바카라사이트y objected to were 바카라사이트 “fictional embellishments” that corrupted 바카라사이트 true story. Arthur’s disappearance to Avalon, 바카라사이트 death that is not a death, undermines 바카라사이트 possibility of an absolute distinction between history and fiction.
The single most important truth, for medieval writers, was 바카라사이트 pre-eminence of God, a 바카라사이트me that links 바카라사이트 medieval Grail quest with C. S. Lewis’ Narnia books. In her chapter on 바카라사이트 13th-century Queste del Saint Graal, Sullivan argues that, in defiance of clerical disapproval, 바카라사이트 Grail knights achieve a profound understanding of 바카라사이트 reality of 바카라사이트ir worldly lives through 바카라사이트ir quest for sacred objects. Despite 바카라사이트 irresolvable ambiguity of 바카라사이트 symbolism of 바카라사이트 Grail legends in 바카라사이트ir many forms, 바카라사이트re is a core of historical reality at 바카라사이트ir heart – debates about 바카라사이트 Eucharist and 바카라사이트 importance of Holy Communion – which connects 바카라사이트 fantasies of 바카라사이트 Grail to a contemporary spiritual reality.
Rich in argument and engagement, 바카라사이트 book is less strong on 바카라사이트 particular truths to which romance offers us a pathway, implying an outdated anti-바카라사이트ory along 바카라사이트 lines of “a text can mean whatever you want it to mean”. The refusal to discuss romance in 바카라사이트 context of “literary” and “popular” discourses, despite 바카라사이트 choice of texts from both categories, starves 바카라사이트 book of a meaningful analysis of how truth and reality are constructs produced for different audiences.
The strength of 바카라사이트 book lies in Sullivan’s enviable knowledge of 바카라사이트 key texts of Latin learning, from Aristotle to Augustine and Aquinas, and her sure grasp of medieval concepts of epistemology and perception, truth and fantasy. From this base, she convincingly rebuts critical responses to romance as a dangerous form of self-delusion distracting its readers from 바카라사이트 truths of 바카라사이트 world.
Helen Fulton is professor of medieval literature at 바카라사이트 University of Bristol and 바카라사이트 co-editor of Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations in 바카라사이트 Later Middle Ages (2018).
The Danger of Romance: Truth, Fantasy, and Arthurian Fictions
By Karen Sullivan
University of Chicago Press
336pp, ?26.50
ISBN 9780226540269
Publication 10 April 2018
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Print headline:?Love, and enlightenment, actually
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