ObscurityFlyer Libre
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LuĐie Doležalová, Jeff Rideƌ aŶd AlessaŶdƌo Zironi, eds. Obscurity in Medieval Texts. Medium Aevum Quotidianum, Sonderband 30. Kƌeŵs: IŶstitut füƌ Realienkunde des Mittelalteƌs uŶd deƌ fƌüheŶ Neuzeit, 2013. 197 pages. price: 14,50 EUR order at: Gerhard Jaritz [email protected] Modern readers of medieval texts often find them obscure. Some of this obscurity is accidental and inevitable due to the historical and cultural distance that separates modern readers from medieval authors, but medieval readers and authors also appear to have simply had a higher tolerance for textual obscurity than we do and even to have viewed obscurity as desirable and a virtue. They did not believe that obscurity could ever be eradicated and were not scared of the indescribable, undividable, and ungraspable; they accepted reality as complex and ultimately unintelligible. Obscurity was not simply a riddle to be solved. It was a source of wonder, questioning and a search for meaning. The essays collected in this volume discuss the deliberate creation of obscurities within particular communities, the (often obscure) medieval strategies for interpreting obscurities, and contemporary interpretations of medieval obscurities, focusing on two kinds of persistent obscurity in medieval texts. One is an intentional enigma that seems to have been created to provoke interpretation. The second is found in texts that were probably not meant to be enigmatic but became obscure when transferred to a new community without any fixed interpretation attached to them. These obscure texts continued to be handed down perhaps through inertia or because of the authority attached to them. Contents Textual Obscurity in the Middle Ages (Introduction) LuĐie Doležalová, Jeff Rideƌ, aŶd AlessaŶdƌo ZiƌoŶi ClaƌifiĐatioŶs of OďsĐuƌitLJ: CoŶditioŶs foƌ PƌoĐlus’s AllegoƌiĐal ReadiŶg of Plato’s Parmenides FloƌiŶ Geoƌge CăliaŶ Lucifica nigris tunc nuntio regna figuris. PoétiƋue tedžtuelle de l’obscuritas dans les ƌeĐueils d’éŶigŵes latiŶes du Haut ŵoLJeŶ Age (VII e -VIII e s.) Christiane Veyrard-Cosme The Enigmatic Style in Twelfth-Century French Literature Jeff Rider Mise en abyme iŶ Maƌie de FƌaŶĐe’s LaüstiĐ Susan Small Perturbations of the Soul: Alexander of Ashby and Aegidius of Paris on Understanding Biblical Obscuritas Greti Dinkova-Bruun Versus obscuri nella poesia didascalica grammaticale del XIII sec. Carla Piccone Disclosing Secrets: Virgil in Middle High German Poems Alessandro Zironi Obscuritas legum: Traditional Law, Learned Jurisprudence, and Territorial Legislation (The Example of Sachsenspiegel and Ius Municipale Maideburgense) Hiƌaŵ Küŵpeƌ To Be Born (Again) from God: Scriptural Obscurity as a Theological Way Out for Cornelius Agrippa Noel Putnik Obscuritas in Medieval and Humanist Translation Theories Réka Foƌƌai The Darkness Within: First-person Speakers and the Unrepresentable Päivi M. MehtoŶeŶ
Transcript of ObscurityFlyer Libre
LuIie Doležalová, Jeff Rideヴ aﾐd Alessaﾐdヴo Zironi, eds.
Obscurity in Medieval Texts.
Medium Aevum Quotidianum, Sonderband
30. Kヴeﾏs: Iﾐstitut füヴ Realienkunde des
Mittelalteヴs uﾐd deヴ fヴüheﾐ Neuzeit, 2013.
197 pages.
price: 14,50 EUR
order at: Gerhard Jaritz
Modern readers of medieval texts often find them obscure. Some of this obscurity is
accidental and inevitable due to the historical and cultural distance that separates
modern readers from medieval authors, but medieval readers and authors also appear
to have simply had a higher tolerance for textual obscurity than we do and even to have
viewed obscurity as desirable and a virtue. They did not believe that obscurity could
ever be eradicated and were not scared of the indescribable, undividable, and
ungraspable; they accepted reality as complex and ultimately unintelligible. Obscurity
was not simply a riddle to be solved. It was a source of wonder, questioning and a
search for meaning.
The essays collected in this volume discuss the deliberate creation of obscurities
within particular communities, the (often obscure) medieval strategies for interpreting
obscurities, and contemporary interpretations of medieval obscurities, focusing on two
kinds of persistent obscurity in medieval texts. One is an intentional enigma that seems
to have been created to provoke interpretation. The second is found in texts that were
probably not meant to be enigmatic but became obscure when transferred to a new
community without any fixed interpretation attached to them. These obscure texts
continued to be handed down perhaps through inertia or because of the authority
attached to them.
Contents
Textual Obscurity in the Middle Ages (Introduction)
LuIie Doležalová, Jeff Rideヴ, aﾐd Alessaﾐdヴo Ziヴoﾐi
さClaヴifiIatioﾐsざ of OHsIuヴit┞: Coﾐditioﾐs foヴ PヴoIlus’s AllegoヴiIal Readiﾐg of Plato’s Parmenides
Floヴiﾐ Geoヴge Căliaﾐ
Lucifica nigris tunc nuntio regna figuris. Poétiケue te┝tuelle de l’obscuritas dans les
ヴeIueils d’éﾐigﾏes latiﾐes du Haut ﾏo┞eﾐ Age (VIIe-VIII
e s.)
Christiane Veyrard-Cosme
The Enigmatic Style in Twelfth-Century French Literature
Jeff Rider
Mise en abyme iﾐ Maヴie de FヴaﾐIe’s さLaüstiIざ
Susan Small
Perturbations of the Soul: Alexander of Ashby and Aegidius of Paris on Understanding
Biblical Obscuritas
Greti Dinkova-Bruun
Versus obscuri nella poesia didascalica grammaticale del XIII sec.
Carla Piccone
Disclosing Secrets: Virgil in Middle High German Poems
Alessandro Zironi
Obscuritas legum: Traditional Law, Learned Jurisprudence, and Territorial Legislation
(The Example of Sachsenspiegel and Ius Municipale Maideburgense)
Hiヴaﾏ Küﾏpeヴ
To Be Born (Again) from God:
Scriptural Obscurity as a Theological Way Out for Cornelius Agrippa
Noel Putnik
Obscuritas in Medieval and Humanist Translation Theories
Réka Foヴヴai
The Darkness Within: First-person Speakers and the Unrepresentable
Päivi M. Mehtoﾐeﾐ
