The Troubadours
By Linda M. Paterson
Reaktion Books
ISBN: 978 1 78914 919 7
This book delves into the lives of eight troubadours, weaving together the stories of the men and women who emerged as poet-musicians and became integral to the culture of medieval Western Europe. It features translations of many of their captivating poems and songs, bringing their artistry to life.
Excerpt:
The troubadours were poet-musicians composing in Occitan, the language of what is now the south of France, as opposed to the Old French language of the northern French trouvères. Some were women. We know of 460 named troubadours through various sources: the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century manuscripts that have preserved their songs; contemporary documents, such as witness lists; information provided by the songs themselves; and references to them by other medieval writers. More than 2,500 pieces have survived. If authors composed for oral performance to particular audiences at specific times and places, their contemporaries and successors did not see their lyrics as ephemeral occasional pieces. They preserved them through a long process of oral and written transmission. Texts surviving in a single manuscript or loose-leaf folio, or cited within a narrative text, suggest the disappearance of many more that do not conform to a mainstream literary canon.
Who is this book for?
Each chapter offers a mini-biography of important troubadours and their works: Guilhem IX (a Duke of Aquitaine), Jaufre Rudel, Marcabru, Bernart de Ventadorn, Arnaut Daniel, Bertran de Born, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras and Folquet de Marselha. There is also a chapter on the Trobairitz, which were women troubadours.
The author targets a broad audience with this work, making it accessible even to those just beginning to explore the world of troubadours. Readers interested in medieval music and literature will find this book especially engaging, particularly if they seek to deepen their understanding of the cultural and artistic contributions of these poet-musicians.
“Historian Paterson shows that during a period riven by local conflicts and crusades, the troubadours were purveyors of social cohesion; by blurring the region’s many dialects into one common literary language, they bolstered Occitan identity, articulated resistance to French incursion from the north, and critiqued and promoted the policies of lords and kings.” ~ review in Publisher’s Weekly
The Author
Linda M. Paterson is professor emerita at the University of Warwick. Her research focuses on the troubadours and the literature of medieval Western Europe.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.
You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
The Troubadours
By Linda M. Paterson
Reaktion Books
ISBN: 978 1 78914 919 7
This book delves into the lives of eight troubadours, weaving together the stories of the men and women who emerged as poet-musicians and became integral to the culture of medieval Western Europe. It features translations of many of their captivating poems and songs, bringing their artistry to life.
Excerpt:
The troubadours were poet-musicians composing in Occitan, the language of what is now the south of France, as opposed to the Old French language of the northern French trouvères. Some were women. We know of 460 named troubadours through various sources: the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century manuscripts that have preserved their songs; contemporary documents, such as witness lists; information provided by the songs themselves; and references to them by other medieval writers. More than 2,500 pieces have survived. If authors composed for oral performance to particular audiences at specific times and places, their contemporaries and successors did not see their lyrics as ephemeral occasional pieces. They preserved them through a long process of oral and written transmission. Texts surviving in a single manuscript or loose-leaf folio, or cited within a narrative text, suggest the disappearance of many more that do not conform to a mainstream literary canon.
Who is this book for?
Each chapter offers a mini-biography of important troubadours and their works: Guilhem IX (a Duke of Aquitaine), Jaufre Rudel, Marcabru, Bernart de Ventadorn, Arnaut Daniel, Bertran de Born, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras and Folquet de Marselha. There is also a chapter on the Trobairitz, which were women troubadours.
The author targets a broad audience with this work, making it accessible even to those just beginning to explore the world of troubadours. Readers interested in medieval music and literature will find this book especially engaging, particularly if they seek to deepen their understanding of the cultural and artistic contributions of these poet-musicians.
“Historian Paterson shows that during a period riven by local conflicts and crusades, the troubadours were purveyors of social cohesion; by blurring the region’s many dialects into one common literary language, they bolstered Occitan identity, articulated resistance to French incursion from the north, and critiqued and promoted the policies of lords and kings.” ~ review in Publisher’s Weekly
The Author
Linda M. Paterson is professor emerita at the University of Warwick. Her research focuses on the troubadours and the literature of medieval Western Europe.
You can learn more about this book from the publisher’s website.
You can buy this book on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
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