Trouble and Strife in the Old French Fabliaux

Cartlidge, Neil

Abstract

Neil Cartlidgeߣs essay addresses the genre seemingly least sympathetic to women, that of fabliau, to show that the truth is more complex. Fabliaux, Cartlidge argues, deals in what is literally ߢfabulousߣ: its distortions and caricatured, often obscene or violent humour cannot be read as commenting directly on the treatment of women or reflecting general attitudes to gender but, rather, work through defamiliarisation and absurdity. The essay offers a new perspective on London, BL Harley 2253, through the analysis of four Old French fabliaux found in it, the most concentrated gathering of fabliaux in any extant English manuscript. The group offers a representative selection of the genre, depicting and undercutting sexual desire, violence, and humiliation by taking them to extremes that are both uneasy and absurd. As Cartlidge shows, such works play creatively and troublingly with attitudes to language and shame/honour cultures, marriage, sexuality, and desire. Celebrating neither gender, the fabliaux create communities of readers through the shared laughter of their audiences, male and female.

Citation

Cartlidge, N. (2023). Trouble and Strife in the Old French Fabliaux. In C. Saunders, & D. Watt (Eds.), Women and Medieval Literary Culture: From the Early Middle Ages to the Fifteenth Century (324-341). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108869485.017

• Online Publication Date: Jul 28, 2023
• Publication Date: Jul 31, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jul 29, 2024
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Pages: 324-341
• Book Title: Women and Medieval Literary Culture: From the Early Middle Ages to the Fifteenth Century
• Chapter Number: 16
• ISBN: 9781108869485
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108869485.017
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2394581