Medieval Narrative

Provides an introduction to medieval and modern ideas of narrative; and types of medieval story-telling, including fable, chronicle, epic, romance, and dream. This book indicates some of the interesting complexities of a literature too often regarded as simple or alien, but which may have enough uncertainties to satisfy any post-modernist reader. An introduction to the variety of medieval narrative, intended both for students and more general readers who already know some of the classics of the Middle Ages, such as Beowulf, the Decameron and The Canterbury Tales,, and who wish to venture further. Medieval definitions and theories of narrative are considered in relation to modern narratology and the major medieval types of narrative are discussed. The perspective in this book is mainly English, with Chaucer as a central figure, but it refers to a range of well-known European texts and writers, such as Marie de France, Cretien de Troyes, the Niebelungenlied, the Poem of the Cid, Dante and Boccaccio.