Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Readership and Authority in the First Roman de la Rose

This book offers first and foremost a rereading of the most widely read narrative poem in the medieval French tradition, the Roman de la Rose. The poem is a composite work by two thirteenth -century authors; the first part by Guillaume de Lorris has always been viewed as an unfinished fragment which was made complete by a second author. David Hult offers a rereading of this 'first' poem. Through specific reference to the courtly literary tradition within which it was composed as well as to its own internal structure and logical coherence, the author attempts to show that the 'fragment' is complete in itself and thereby expresses some of the major concerns of medieval writers and readers. In the course of his study, he deals extensively with problems of manuscript writing and medieval conceptions of literary text which force us to shed our modern preconceptions about the ways people read and write fiction. All quotations are also provided in English.Hult, David F. is the author of 'Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Readership and Authority in the First Roman de la Rose', published 1986 under ISBN 9780521320146 and ISBN 0521320143.