A Companion to Medieval Popular Romance

A comprehensive guide to the medieval popular romance, one of the age's most important literary forms.

A comprehensive guide to the medieval popular romance, one of the age's most important literary forms.

Popular romance was one of the most wide-spread forms of literature in the middle ages, yet despite its cultural centrality, and its fundamental importance for later literary developments, the genre has defied precise definition,its subject matter ranging from tales of chivalric adventure, to saintly women, and monsters who become human. The essays in this collection seek to provide an inclusive and thorough examination of romance. They provide contexts,definitions, and explanations for the genre, particularly in, but not limited to, an English context. Topics covered include genre and literary classification; race and ethnicity; gender; orality and performance; the romance and young readers; metre and form; printing culture; and reception.

CONTRIBUTORS: ROSALIND FIELD, RALUCA L. RADULESCU, MALDWYN MILLS, GILLIAN ROGERS, JENNIFER FELLOWS, THOMAS H. CROFTS, ROBERT ALLEN ROUSE, JOANNE CHARBONNEAU,DESIREE CROMWELL, AD PUTTER, KARL REICHL, PHILLIPA HARDMAN, CORY JAMES RUSHTON

Introduction - Raluca Radulescu and Cory Rushton
Popular Romance: The Material and the Problems - Rosalind Field
Genre and Classification - Raluca Radulescu
The Manuscripts of Popular Romance - Maldwyn Mills and Gillian E Rogers
Printed Romance in the Sixteenth Century - Jennifer Fellows
Middle English Popular Romance and National Identity - Thomas Howard Crofts and Robert Rouse
Gender and Identity in the Popular Romance - Joanne A Charbonneau and Desiree Cromwell
The Metres and Stanza Forms of Popular Romance - Ad Putter
Orality and Performance - Karl Reichl
Popular Romances and Young Readers - Phillipa Hardman
Modern and Academic Reception of the Popular Romance - Cory Rushton
Bibliography