Die Wahrheit der Fiktion Studien zur weltlichen und geistlichen Literatur des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit

Either directly or with reference to its repercussions, the essays assembled here deal with the intellectual revolution that transformed western culture in the 12th and 13th centuries and paved the way for the modern age. Two major innovations claim central interest. One is the project of a fictional form of literature that instead of claiming possession of the truth, as in the traditional view of the world, set out to in quest of it. The other is the idea of a new, personal relationship between 'I' and 'you', both in its religious form and as erotic encounter between the sexes.