Book review - Representing the Dead: Epitaph Fictions in Late-Medieval France
Date
2018
Authors
Hadley-Williams, Janet
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Abstract
The introduction to Representing the Dead is a valuable resource in itself. There,
Helen Swift defines the terms, and discusses the literary epitaph’s use of language
and versification, audience involvement, and, among much else, its differences
from, and relationships with, elegy, testament, complaint, and plainte funèbre.
Swift refers to late medieval French writing, including that of André de La
Vigne, Jean Molinet, Octavien de Saint-Gelais, Jean Lemaire, Alain Chartier, and
François Villon, with meticulous translations. But her study is not chronologically
or linguistically narrow, and for instance she cites Christos Tsagalis on the uses
of the ‘short obituary’ in the Iliad. Her findings, which take into account recent
scholarship and critical theory, are of great use for all scholars interested in the
relationship between identity (name, renown, reputation) and death as both threat
to identity and ‘condition for its creation’ (p. 4).
Description
Keywords
book review, Helen Swift
Citation
Collections
Source
Parergon
Type
Journal article
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
License Rights
Restricted until
2037-12-31