Andreas Capellanus on Love?: Desire, Seduction, and Subversion in a Twelfth-Century Latin Text (Studies in Arthurian and Courtly Cultures)

284 Pages·2007·0.81 MB·English

by  Kathleen Andersen-Wyman

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ANDREAS CAPELLANUS ON LOVE?
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STUDIES IN ARTHURIAN AND
COURTLY CULTURES
The dynamic field of Arthurian Studies is the subject for this book series, Studies in Arthurian
and Courtly Cultures, which explores the great variety of literary and cultural expression
inspired by the lore of King Arthur, the Round Table, and the Grail. In forms that range from
medieval chronicles to popular films, from chivalric romances to contemporary comics, from
magic realism to feminist fantasy—and from the sixth through the twenty-first centuries—few
literary subjects provide such fertile ground for cultural elaboration. Including works in literary
criticism, cultural studies, and history, Studies in Arthurian and Courtly Cultureshighlights the
most significant new Arthurian Studies.
Bonnie Wheeler, Southern Methodist University
Series Editor
Editorial Board:
James Carley, York University
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, George Washington University
Virginie Greene, Harvard University
Siân Echard, University of British Columbia
Sharon Kinoshita, University of California, Santa Cruz
Alan Lupack, University of Rochester
Andrew Lynch, University of Western Australia
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ANDREAS CAPELLANUS
ON LOVE?
DESIRE, SEDUCTION, AND SUBVERSION
IN A TWELFTH-CENTURY LATIN TEXT
Kathleen Andersen-Wyman
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ANDREASCAPELLANUSONLOVE?
© Kathleen Andersen-Wyman, 2007.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproducedin any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case ofbrief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2007 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
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Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS
Companies and representatives throughout the world.
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–6770–1
ISBN-10: 1–4039–6770–9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Andersen-Wyman, Kathleen.
Andreas Capellanus on love? : desire, seduction, and subversion in
a twelfth-century Latin text / Kathleen Andersen-Wyman.
p. cm.—(Studies in Arthurian & courtly cultures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–6770–9 (alk. paper)
1. André, le chapelain. De amore libri tres. I. Title.
PA8250.A236Z6 2007
809(cid:2).933543—dc22 2007060045
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: July 2007
10987654321
Printed in the United States of America.
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To
Lawrence B. Andersen
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
Introduction 1
The Difficulty of Reading Andreas’s Text 4
Readership and Historical Context 7
The Critics 18
My Approach 25
Outline 29
Note on Translations and Manuscript Edition 33
I Fish or Fowl (or, Is There a Genre in This Text?) 35
Transgressing the Boundaries of Grammar,
Logic, and Rhetoric 36
Genre Trouble, Reading Instructions, and
Other Formalities 40
Deconstructing Gender and Culture: A Reading
of the First Five Chapters 48
II Repetition in Andreas’s Text 67
How Repetition in Andreas’s Text Subverts
Social Hierarchies 70
How Repetition in Andreas’s Text
Subverts Religion 90
III On Clerical Intertexts and the Subversion
of Seduction 113
Author/ity 116
Positions of Mastery and the Rhetoric of Eros 131
Seduction and Critical Distance 140
On Confessio and the Charm of Free Choice 149
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VIII CONTENTS
IV Andreas and Walter 159
Andreas’s Desire Uncovered 160
Identities 173
Readership 181
Feminine Desire and the Transgendered Agents
of Andreas’s Text 188
V Andreas on Women 201
On the Discourse of Misogyny 202
Women’s Religion 226
Notes 237
Bibliography 253
Author Index 267
Subject Index 269
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was made possible in part by an Idaho Humanities Council
Fellowship from the NEH (National Endowment for the
Humanities), which allowed the research and writing of the final chapter to
be completed. I would also like to thank Christopher Jones for his careful
reading and useful criticism, especially with respect to the Latin translations
and transcriptions and for asking useful and challenging questions about
theory. I would also like to thank Jennifer Attebery for the significant per-
sonal and professional support. Many thanks are due H. Marshall Leicester,
whose creative approaches to literature have been formative, and Jane
Chance, whose example, moral support, and practical suggestions are of
inestimable value. Many thanks also go to Bonnie Wheeler, whose enthu-
siasm, intelligent comments, and humane interactions as an editor made the
publication process pleasurable.
This book would not have been possible at all without the hard work of
Dana Andersen-Wyman, whose hours in the kitchen, the yard, the laundry
room, and the nursery are worth more money than I care to tally; and
thanks to Dana, too, for always finding a way to make hard things look
easy. My gratitude also goes to Lawrence and Naomi Andersen for their
continual encouragement and example.