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7 - Irony of the narrator

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 August 2009

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Summary

The theme of the narrator opens up a far-ranging problem of medieval literary history: are we justified in talking of the aesthetic function of the narrator and if so, when? By irony of the narrator I mean either the irony of remarks made by the narrator standing back from the story and commenting on it or the irony which can arise from a discrepancy between narrator and poet. In this latter sense our problem belongs to a wider one of all narrative literature. Since the essence of this literature lies in the relationship between the poet, his story and his audience, and since this relationship implies the possibility of three points of view (of the poet, his characters, his audience), the potential disparity between these has the makings of irony. Our task will be to consider what rôle the narrator plays in this and how far this rôle is characteristic of the romance.

Oral and written composition

My argument rests on the belief that the romance brings something new into medieval vernacular literature, that it represents the transition from oral composition to written secular literature and that this brings about a number of potential disparities that lend themselves to ironic exploitation of a new kind. This novelty of the romance can be demonstrated by contrasting it with what we know of the features of oral composition in so far as they are believed to apply to the medieval epic.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1979

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