The Forest in Medieval German Literature

Ecocritical Readings from a Historical Perspective

By (author) Albrecht Classen

Publication date:

03 June 2015

Length of book:

254 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739195185

By pursuing an ecocritical reading, The Forest in Medieval German Literature examines passages in medieval German texts where protagonists operated in the forest and found themselves either in conflictual situations or in refuge. By probing the way the individual authors dealt with the forest, illustrating how their characters fared in this sylvan space, the role of the forest proved to be of supreme importance in understanding the fundamental relationship between humans and nature. The medieval forest almost always introduced an epistemological challenge: how to cope in life, or how to find one’s way in this natural maze. By approaching these narratives through modern ecocritical issues that are paired with premodern perspectives, we gain a solid and far-reaching understanding of how medieval concepts can aid in a better understanding of human society and nature in its historical context. This book revisits some of the best and lesser known examples of medieval German literature, and the critical approach used here will allow us to recognize the importance of medieval literature for a profound reassessment of our modern existence with respect to our own forests.

Acknowledgements

Introduction and Theoretical Reflections:
The Forest as an Epistemological Challenge in the Middle Ages

Chapter One:
Hartmann von Aue’s Concept of the Forest:
The Arthurian Adventure in the Forest and the Consequences

Chapter Two:
The Forest as Staging Ground for the Heroic Protagonist:
Glory and Demise in the Nibelungenlied

Chapter Three:
The Forest in Wolfram von Eschenbach’s Works:
The Passage from the Arthurian Court
to the Grail Kingdom Through the Forest

Chapter Four:
The Forest in Gottfried von Straßburg’s Tristan
and in Alternative Tristan Versions

Chapter Five:
The Forest in Der Melerantz von Frankreich by The Pleier

Chapter Six:
The Forest as the Transitional and Transformative Space
in Konrad von Würzburg’s Partonopier und Meliur

Chapter Seven:
The Ambivalence of the Forest: Exile or Safe Haven?
The Destiny of the Female Protagonist Refracted in the Forest:
Elisabeth von Nassau-Saarbrücken’s Königin Sibille

Chapter Eight:
Forest in Thüring von Ringoltingen’s Melusine:
Dark Spaces, Mysterious Origins, Meaningful Connections:
The Forest and the Establishment of Dynasties

Epilogue

Bibliography
Index

Classen explores a hitherto understudied motif in medieval and early modern German literature: the forest. He provides an intensive study of noteworthy texts by seven authors and of the anonymously authored Nibelungenlied and offers an extensive survey that covers some 300 years. Classen points out the forest is used to portray adventure, heroic or dastardly deeds, passages both physical and metaphysical, transformation, and often mystery. Classen's . . . ecocritical approach seeks to balance the imaginative nature of literary works with the realities of the environments in which the protagonists act. As a place outside of yet accessible to those in traditional society (as presented in the literary canon), the forest represents Utopian refuge or mortal danger (and in some cases both at the same time), always reflecting on the status of the 'other' locale. There, nature and culture interact in sometimes surprising configurations. This richly annotated investigation reveals that other texts and authors might fruitfully be subjected to scrutiny similar to that Classen devotes to Hartmann von Aue, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Gottfried von Strassburg, et al. With its impressive bibliography and index, this is a valuable resource for those interested in German literature and history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.