
Reveries of Community
French Epic in the Age of Henri IV, 1572-1616
Katherine Maynard(Author)
Northwestern University Press
Published on 31. December 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-8101-3583-3 (ISBN)
Description
Reveries of Community reconsiders the role of epic poetry during the French Wars of Religion, the series of wars between Catholics and Protestants that dominated France between 1562 and 1598. Critics have often viewed French epic poetry as a casualty of these wars, arguing that the few epics France produced during this conflict failed in power and influence compared to those of France's neighbors, such as Italy's Orlando Furioso, England's Faerie Queene, and Portugal's Os Lusiadas. Katherine S. Maynard argues instead that the wars did not hinder epic poetry, but rather French poets responded to the crisis by using epic poetry to reimagine France's present and future.
Traditionally united by une foi, une loi, un roi (one faith, one law, one king), France under Henri IV was cleaved into warring factions of Catholics and Huguenots. The country suffered episodes of bloodshed such as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, even as attempts were made to attenuate the violence through frequent edicts, including those of St. Germain (1570) and Nantes (1598). Maynard examines the rich and often dismissed body work written during these bloody decades: Pierre de Ronsard's Franciade, Guillaume Salluste Du Bartas's La Judit and La Sepmaine, Sebastian Garnier's La Henriade, Agrippa d'Aubigne's Les Tragiques, and others. She traces how French poets, taking classics such as Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad as their models, reimagined possibilities for French reconciliation and unity.
Traditionally united by une foi, une loi, un roi (one faith, one law, one king), France under Henri IV was cleaved into warring factions of Catholics and Huguenots. The country suffered episodes of bloodshed such as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, even as attempts were made to attenuate the violence through frequent edicts, including those of St. Germain (1570) and Nantes (1598). Maynard examines the rich and often dismissed body work written during these bloody decades: Pierre de Ronsard's Franciade, Guillaume Salluste Du Bartas's La Judit and La Sepmaine, Sebastian Garnier's La Henriade, Agrippa d'Aubigne's Les Tragiques, and others. She traces how French poets, taking classics such as Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad as their models, reimagined possibilities for French reconciliation and unity.
Reviews / Votes
Maynard is recognized as a key thinker of French Renaissance epic. The field is waiting for this book."" - Phillip John Usher, author of Epic Arts in Renaissance FranceMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Evanston
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
280 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8101-3583-3 (9780810135833)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Katherine S. Maynard is an associate professor of French at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.
Content
Introduction: Epic for a Time of Crisis
Chapter 1: Empires of Erasure in Pierre de Ronsard's Franciade (1572)
Chapter 2: 'Naturel ramage': Region, Nation, and Empire in the Long Poems of Guillaume Salluste Du Bartas (1574-1590)
Chapter 3: Epic and Nation in an Age of Reconstruction: Sebastien Garnier's Henriade (1593/1594)
Chapter 4: Peace, Fertility, and Empire in Pierre-Victor Palma Cayet's Heptameron de la Navarride (1602)
Chapter 5: Re-forming Communities in Agrippa d'Aubigne's Les Tragiques (1616)
Conclusion
Chapter 1: Empires of Erasure in Pierre de Ronsard's Franciade (1572)
Chapter 2: 'Naturel ramage': Region, Nation, and Empire in the Long Poems of Guillaume Salluste Du Bartas (1574-1590)
Chapter 3: Epic and Nation in an Age of Reconstruction: Sebastien Garnier's Henriade (1593/1594)
Chapter 4: Peace, Fertility, and Empire in Pierre-Victor Palma Cayet's Heptameron de la Navarride (1602)
Chapter 5: Re-forming Communities in Agrippa d'Aubigne's Les Tragiques (1616)
Conclusion