Douglas Kelly – författare

The two romances translated in this volume, the Roman de Thèbes and the Roman d’Eneas, form, along with the Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, a group of texts that are of considerable importance within French and European literature and culture. Composed between c. 1150 and c. 1165, these romances create a bridge between classical tales (the Thèbes is based on the Thebaid of Statius, the Eneas on the Aeneid of Virgil) and the burgeoning vernacular romances, represented especially by Chrétien de Troyes. As a group, these three works are frequently known as the romances of antiquity (romans d’antiquité) and they introduce into French literature the dominant contemporary themes of chivalry and love. They are set against a feudal and courtly background in which themes such as war, prowess inheritance and the possession of land are crucial. As they adapt their Latin sources, these romances, especially the Eneas, exploit the works of Ovid, especially in the presentation of the theme of love, and they also make use of the principles of rhetorical composition as studied in the schools (both romances contain remarkable examples of descriptions of both people and objects).This is the first volume to contain two complete translations of the three romances of antiquity. The translation of the Roman d’Eneas is the first English translation of this text since that of John A. Yunck in 1974.

The two romances translated in this volume, the Roman de Thèbes and the Roman d’Eneas, form, along with the Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, a group of texts that are of considerable importance within French and European literature and culture. Composed between c. 1150 and c. 1165, these romances create a bridge between classical tales (the Thèbes is based on the Thebaid of Statius, the Eneas on the Aeneid of Virgil) and the burgeoning vernacular romances, represented especially by Chrétien de Troyes. As a group, these three works are frequently known as the romances of antiquity (romans d’antiquité) and they introduce into French literature the dominant contemporary themes of chivalry and love. They are set against a feudal and courtly background in which themes such as war, prowess inheritance and the possession of land are crucial. As they adapt their Latin sources, these romances, especially the Eneas, exploit the works of Ovid, especially in the presentation of the theme of love, and they also make use of the principles of rhetorical composition as studied in the schools (both romances contain remarkable examples of descriptions of both people and objects).This is the first volume to contain two complete translations of the three romances of antiquity. The translation of the Roman d’Eneas is the first English translation of this text since that of John A. Yunck in 1974.

A close examination of an important theme in Machaut's works.A milestone in Machaut studies and in late-medieval French literature in general. Machaut, already considered the seminal figure in late-medieval poetics and music, here comes across in these respects more clearly than ever. Kelly also further contextualises him within what we might call the authorial `apprenticeship tradition' of Boethius, the Roman de la Rose, Dante, and later Gower, Chaucer, and Christine de Pizan. The fruit of one of the field's most distinguished scholars today. Nadia Margolis, Mount Holyoke College.Guillaume de Machaut was celebrated in the later Middle Ages as a supreme poet and composer, and accordingly, his poetry was recommended as amodel for aspiring poets. In his Voir Dit, Toute Belle, a young, aspiring poet, convinces the Machaut figure to mentor her. This volume examines Toute Belle as she masters Machaut's dual arts of poetry and love, focusing onher successful apprenticeship in these arts; it also provides a thorough review of Machaut's art of love and art of poetry in his dits and lyricsm, and the previous scholarship on these topics. It goes on to treat Machaut's legacy among poets who, like Toute Belle, adapted his poetic craft in new and original ways. A concluding analysis of melodie identifies the synaesthetic pleasure that late medieval poets, including Machaut, offer their readers.Douglas Kelly is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.