E. D. Blodgett

First published in 1995. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Romance of Flamenca

Studie over het werk van de Canadese schrijfster (geb. 1931)

Alice Munro

Calgary Institute for the Humanities

Barbara Belyea

Estelle Dansereau

This lively and diverse bilingual collection of essays by writers and critics examines contemporary Canadian literary arts. The perspectives range from highly personal and introspective to scholarly and objective, yet each adds significantly to an understanding of the dialogue between writers and readers. Proceedings from a workshop held at the Calgary Institute for the Humanities during the summer of 1982, the volume includes such contributors as E.D. Blodgett, Jacques Brault, Richard Giguère, D.G. Jones, Myrna Kostash, Peter Stevens, Aritha van Herk, and Christopher Wiseman. The collection will naturally be of interest to any student of Canadian literature, but the essays also forcefully address, both explicitly and implicitly, the question of a nationalism of the arts, an issue of great importance to performers and critics in many fields.

A Dialogue Between Writers and Readers

Driving Home

"Variously described as a comedy of manners, a psychological romance, and a type of fabliau, the 13th-century narrative Flamenca is the best medieval romance written in Occitan. Its uniqueness springs from qualities that anticipate the preoccupations of modern-day narrative. Not content with being a love story fraught with risk and intrigue, the poem is layered with responses to the troubadour tradition of love and poetry, as well as the Bible and the classics. Though among the most bookish of romances, its tone is invariably ironic, comic, and satirical. This playfulness may be measured by the variety and vehemence of critical response to the poem. Is it a vindication of the troubadour ideal, a mockery of the Church, a satire on jealous husbands, or an undermining of the ideals that romance is said to inscribe? Or is it all of these elements held in suspense? The introduction confronts these questions."--provided by publisher.

E. D. Blodgett

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