43 mma, mH, agene Vance’ 4 pid., vEIL, x, 26. © mmia., INL, ot, 27. 46 mesa. VIEL, x4, 29. 7 wid, Oh te ts 48 rsa... 29 pid. Th Le roid. 1H, 14, 6 SL mids, Thy x 2 82 pid. x) 25. 58 mold. M1, 4, 5. SH isa. Mt, 1, 3. 55 reid, Mt, Hh, 5 The diagnosis is xine. [AUTOBIOGRAPIY IN THE MIDDLE ACES?* Pau Zanthor ‘The question mark As an Snportant part of this tit 4 Sntend to make inguicles father than fo treat an indis~ A tbfe subjects the brief reflections vhich follow are Peated by a doubt rogarding the univoclty of personal ‘icourse:. the referential relation involved in the use Sete pronoun Z, obviously conditioned by a certain cul= Gieal obdely must surely have undergone a radical change [ftucen the’ tuelfth century and that of Jean-Jacques proliminantes Me witl assune that autobiography comprises tho ele- eente!" an I anda narrative presented as non-Fictive. ‘Ruse erenoncs ave functionally Linked; the 7, simuleane- Guniy the enmelator and ehe subject of the enunciation, Se'fact constieutes the Mehene” which the successive ‘SEelons generating the narrative will predicate, The three aiseinctive factors currently postulated in discourse Shuiysie are condensed into two! on the one hand there 12, im opposition becwoen and you and between T and the non Porseny but on the other hang, the opposition within the EXrracion between fietionai narsation and history is Tectrallsels, The tense Of the discourse is che past, but ‘his discourse carries « semantic mark ("this Tenlly’ iypened," "ents was true) which establishes # general ‘Suotation. "As far as nedieval texts are concerned, this neutral- sation iz due to the nature of the literary language. edievai storytellers id not make as clear a distinction tevwoen an aezount of reall events and fiction as aig those Gr other periods, Tuis differentiation was auch Less faportanc’ te then than the opposition Between teaching tnd non-teaching, dooerina and mgae. The Do vita sua of Gaiters of Nopent. Se more clearly opposed to the Tugae Sirtatiun of Cautier Nap than to the Blezoria regi Eeletomdae of Geoffroy of Homouth, by virtue of thelr Teapective functions in the cultural discourse of the ‘Translated by Sherry Sinon.o Pout Zunthed) —ynoRTOGHUPI 1 TIME MIDDLE AGES? a cwaneen-encteenth conturtes._Todistsngush besten the HEE RSOT ate erty acca © toler, is aod de cceia of mereka eso oy toel Py CSET ate for tr reton Buc shese cH steate Fata and the constoge uve of alle octoe of "esl Sisbsogsarravion. Tue nie seme idee oo apply anuersety, Sete Sion, However, ett of thich the Beetonia oatandeatin of Series fb Uti oy tae. oun she atseure eile ete aor yaceey trae sverhess conte ieetally mal 2M elecapoes of conten sleet Sorel ens AMG) a See tees gz niewreal The sol an be dened tie cinfeetone of ste ogutane, eae ote Stree sensations? Te Gogecio sol shee che sume eertay of eansisr india erfence, even on the level of the deep intention of she. pestege, uty om te Ie terpretation of ih cons eee consent. oreeiay bor thew of 00h sind vee See coneeye til faflecach sean) osich mts eo the, rable £0 THT: goal that the charscteristic ete Hie eaten Sretevant oe te dont exch aE 1 eet Mog nue peyuaby coe of soba My ts ecard ies farmers froin Hie Et oral avin ave decid 2 See scenery, nis of aedion att euivel tu Eee Pa tte hehontsreetion #6 Me ‘OXts atever the real circumstances which prevailed in soe casera he Ee arePreaoedeyes erty see gaa eames of tt ite pea toe cannes ody of cage postry-rthat iny poetry An which the subject 2eeSetae Phe che presen sage of cur docmeeati, sea ace OF texte rennin anonynous qven vhen & nate Ueland (crwagh e siamator, Tenet," the ep is attiees (SHE°IS very often a Christian nane so, fre of Semana that Le ean nay be contdered 6 "proper ‘Se onumaeticy tes souctines carry 2 social conmoratlon panes Sabrricahe vo ineerpret, The toponym which cow ae ere can denigeavo either he place of Cris pletes the nemgouuel possession. And wes the Turold of residences Opal the’ author, ehe reciter, oF the copys he Ontos teres not simply’ tho eetect of the tine £8 Tae oreo pam men thus conceazeds 4e 15 due als €0 semorating os ffavure of the eexte-sto the Jocentering (gsoontratton) of language in the practice vhich produced Geer'raee ponielon of the nedievafiat conlicates this scRiens There i only 2 very slight overiap between the Preval author's payche world ang our om.” The apparent setitjances abich Certain poets seen to ad co thelt nese $Sge5" auch ae Conan of Béthune assuring vat his dialect, ispate of ite plcardisns, G2 conprehonsibte at. the ‘Hrenth coure) constitute rather external and indirect Eitloncesvisvess those svovals can be reduced to variations er*topic intrinsic to the textual systen. The sivuacion SEs conteiniy changed with tino. It is evident that for the tsorleat perled wt can emy perceive she objective sur fie of tho text.” Towards the baroque period, the nedi ‘cifst has che Ilusion of hearing a no¥e pertonal volce Cfmaniteing its nesseger it would be dangerous to trust Hle'Tslon, as the Risconceptions of Villon's poetry provest “ine presence of che poet in the poem results from an saitiat Glan, a transforalng drive whlch affects the entire Rett "The notion of origin disappearst the voice 45 Stothered by the text it composes, sith which Le comp (Nicsscthe dext's very neutrality’ destroying any Snitiat [Eittioy.” The Lavin welters pasa on the conmonplace of the divine andness of the port; this these ia unknown in the vermscular.” Gn the otker hand, fron the socond half Si che twelfah concury on, various developments 9f-ancther Sevelustle eopce® can be found here and there: vhat T wll Seceunt sini be pleasing Greil the ond of tine-'eant que Eirere chréeiene®" says Chrétien de Troyes, playing on his fuse in the prologue to fyeo, Sosetines, ehrough 4 dis zecing effect (Gsazantiarion) Which restores che text's ‘itonomyy the author refers to hiaeelf in the third person. These procedures were no doube designed to conpensate for Sieea"og respect shown for the individuality of the text. {ne negligence which the compilers of Chansenniers in the ‘thirteenth and fourteenth centuries manifest in thei ttribution of recopied selections camot be actributed ‘Sslusively to the gaps in thelr documentation. in narrative of aidactic poens, the author often directly intervenes in the text through an apostrophe to As‘audlence. “The verb, in the first ar second person, ‘roves a rupture in the impersonal discourse by introduce Teeth sruclator Mnil®. Tus sncervertion ct tne, {es be reduced to an slnost neaningless, commonplace’ the (en lovfa? fore vofesten of chansens de forte? and. Past Zumt the textual function of the ‘early: ae is that coreein romances. Elser Speater's invervention appeats nore SPifetoctcalelause of authenticity, whieh (as in the Friston of Béroul) eaphasises the arts of the narrative ini their progression, The author's person, then, ype itlonder eb confirw the objectivity of the text--notking rnore-€. His interventions represent t0 us the projection Tito the text of 2 situation Generally transnitted fr Antg,°05 Er hy a Singer, a vectter or 2 public reader) The nedieval poctic sore possesses an enunciator who is) SBhereees visually percepesaie (although the work itself {S"hot), but who theoretically changes at every perform ahcor fe the author (oho 2 perhaps one of the Buccs ‘efters) has nade of the J the subject of che stac Then this £ functions as a potential fore whose actualis Lion depends on the circumstances. It is very unlikely: SHE the medieval author could have interpreted it An an SUtootogeaphical sense the I-Dieccwwee Ie we agree to ignore the Interventions of the aut he situition is a8 follows! there are very fv nedioval fiefany tents in vhieh one does not find an Z, subject 2NGEeze discourse" thav 4s, subject of word whieh are Taunciseee ty the seferent of this T. Bat two degrees of SEER Glscourde must be distinguished: in the first dogr Ue NMerges with the cont, being the global subject of Si chat fs anid Gin a evoubadour's song, for instance); Yh cke'setond degree, the T-discourse 1s’ generated by SRE (ele speech of 4 chavacter ina ronance, for exaapl SRULIPSiStuss only the first depres, and specify senat I will poe trost its theatrical tse.” A fundatental Groceoid disterence distinguishes ehestre érom all forms SF autobiography: on the one hand, theatre refers £0 2 SfBNetbn Srebenced as fictive with relation 20 the ait Snf'aceores tut ae reat vith regard to the roles per~ fomnedecend even sonet nes to the audience (especially i {the hidate Ages in the plays of Biblical inspiration); ct he other hand, Jig directed towards you, who answer SAL So'sh.Mindee successive 1's refer bach to a complex EL PoPounet stuns such as costumes, gestures, make-uP- ‘outside cf the theatre, the first degree of the. T= scours appears. in tro binds of texts: narrazive and. Sokcearsecives Because they comprise an explickt narrati urost0cRaPIY 18 THE MIDDLE ACES 3s Be al or oe pera SN AESS Mire ea, iH gleiaie ote ate Sica “ha earner a sie lation fa Wiha g wha ars Sette difterentiation, Til make the following aise a 2. Narrativ Intended v0 be sung (2) "narrative song's the song entirely determines the textual form (eng. pestousedtes) (2) "aang narzation': the song accompanies and soppores the toxt without determin ing ie entirely (e.g., ohareone do gevze) 2. Nerrativer not intended to be sung () shore texte, Ike the exorpiie oF Tnouvelle” (este, fabian () tong texts: the romance, fron which weitan asia group, She alleper= (Mis clazsitication Is so solidly based on medieval Tieerary practice, and corresponds so well to the func~ ‘oral pponitions in these forns, that it remains appiic~ bie to the torts of the fourteonih and even, as a general Wich we possess sod refrain fron speculating on the nature of those prob Si Toes" Gi secre thefoosing aoabieaiseribee the class degree is 1(@), the Z-dtscourse of the fatnly. frequent 10), there the class 2a)'and-2(0), it is unknown fn the class 2(b'), it Is Frequent; The class 1(a) Is formally ehoracterized by the fact that the text Ls generated by an 0 examples: s