Friday, 30 November 2001:
3:00-5:00 manuscript session, seminar room, Harry Ransom Center
8:00 opportunity to attend the Texas Union Madrigal Dinner
Saturday, 1 December 2001:
9:00-10:30 Primitivism and Postcolonial Theory in Chrétien's Yvain: The Wild Herdsman and Yvain as "Wildmen"
10:30-11:00 coffee
11:00-12:30 The Lady Lunete in Chrétien's Yvain and Hartmann's Iwein: The Lady-in-Waiting as Counselor
Readings: Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain; Hartmann von Aue, Iwein.
Joseph M. Sullivan, "The Lady Lunete: Literary Conventions of Counsel and the Criticism of Counsel in Chrétien's Yvain and Hartmann's Iwein," Neophilologus 85:3 (July 2001): 335-54.
"Participants should try to distinguish how, and try to suggest why, Hartmann modifies Chrétien's Lunete. Discussion might also address, among other points, the role of giving counsel in the two texts and actual society; the place of the Lady-in-Waiting and servants in the texts and medieval noble households; Gawein/Gauvain's guilt as counselor to Iwein/Yvain; the rights of women, in general, in Chrétien's versus Hartmann's romances; what Hartmann's redrawing of Lunete can tell us about his audience and Chrétien's."
12:30-2:00 lunch break
2:00-3:30 Not in the Image of Chrétien: Other Romance Traditions in Medieval England
Readings: The Squire of Low Degree, Allitterative Morte Arthure
Geraldine Heng, "Cannibalism, the First Crusade, and the Genesis of Medieval Romance."
3:30-4:00 coffee
4:00-5:30 Parzival's Quest for the Grail
conducted by: Christoph J. Steppich, Texas A&M University
Readings: Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival.
Henry Kratz, Wolfram von Eschenbach's 'Parzival'. An attempt at a total evaluation. Bern: A. Francke, 1973, Chapter VI ["Parzival's Progress"], section 3: "Parzival's Trials and Tribulations": 248-283,
Christoph Steppich, "Parzivals 'Absage an die Freude' als Moment der Gralsuche," Journal of English and Germanic Philology 98 (1999): 23-55.
"The discussion will be based on Kratz's recounting of the sequence of events, from Parzival's arrival at the Grail Castle to his departure from King Arthur's court. Emphasis will be on Parzival's reaction to his second encounter with Sigune and to Cundrie's curse, as they trigger his socalled "rebellion against God." A comparison with Chrétien's description of Perceval's "oath" with that of Wolfram's hero before his departure from Arthur's court will serve as a basis for elaborating the far-reaching implications of the hero's ensuing Grail quest."