Eros and Noesis

Don A. Monson, (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1974), is Professor Emeritus of the College of William and Mary. His major publications include Les “Ensenhamens” occitans: Essai de définition et de délimitation du genre (1981) and Andreas Capellanus, Scholasticism, and the Courtly Tradition (2005).

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations



Introduction



part 1: Love Problems: Courtly Literature, Genre Theory and Cognition

1 The Problem of “Courtly Love”: In Search of a New Paradigm

 1 The Classic Theory (1880–1950)

 2 Revisions and Contestations (1950–1985)

 3 Poststructuralism and the New Medievalism (1985–the Present)

 4 Generic and Cognitive Perspectives



2 Medieval Poetic Love: Biological Universality and Cultural Specificity

 1 The Medieval Invention of Love?

 2 Universality: The Biology of Love

 3 The Environment of Adaptation: Courtly Culture

 4 Medieval Intellectual Culture and Poetic Form: Rhetoric and Dialectic

 5 Medieval Social Institutions and Poetic Substance: Feudalism and Christianity



3 Cognition and Genre Theory: The System of the Courtly Genres

 1 Genre Theory and Courtly Literature

 2 Courtly Lyric

 3 Courtly Narrative

 4 Courtly Didactic

 5 The Courtly Genres as a System



4 The Psycho-dynamics of Love: Parsing the Courtly Themes

 1 The Origins of Love

 2 Obstacles to Love

 3 Overcoming the Obstacles

 4 Outcomes



Part 2: Love’s Discourse: A Cognitive Taxonomy of the Courtly Genres

5 Love Song: Courtly Themes in a Lyric Mode

 1 Pure Lyricism: The canso and Some Derivative Genres

 2 Songs of Male Boasting: The “Gap”

 3 The Woman’s Voice: trobairitz and “chansons de femme”

 4 Lyrico-narrative Genres: Pastourelle, Aube, Chanson de Toile

 5 Lyrico-didactic Genres: tensos and partimens



6 Love Story: Courtly Themes in a Narrative Mode

 1 From Song to Tale: Troubadour Biographies and Lyric Insertions

 2 Short Verse Narrative: novas and lais

 3 Romance: Tristan, Chrétien and Beyond



7 Love Lesson: Courtly Themes in a Didactic Mode

 1 Vernacular Beginnings: The ensenhamens

 2 The Ovidian Tradition: Latin and Vernacular Arts of Love

 3 A Latin, Scholastic Synthesis: Andreas Capellanus

 4 A Vernacular, Courtly Synthesis: Guillaume de Lorris



8 Love Mocked: Courtly Themes in a Satirical Mode

 1 Lyric Satire: sirventés and “contre-textes”

 2 Narrative Satire: burlesque lais and fabliaux

 3 Didactic Satire: Debates and Diatribes



Conclusion

Bibliography

Index