Through an example of amplification, Geoffrey of Vinsauf points to his readers the appropriate words to express mourning: (“Temporibus luctus his verbis exprime luctum”, Poetria nova, v. 367). Indeed, the passing of someone gives rise to a variety of written productions, especially poetic compositions: laments (planctus), epitaphs, and titles of mortuary rolls. At first sight, the distinctive feature of funerary poetry is thematic: death underpins its unity. Despite their discursive proximity, funerary poems distinguish themselves through the means of both formal (metrical, rhythmic poetry, or oral performance) and material criteria (codex, rotulus, stone).
From the Carolingian period onwards, funerary poetry experiences a major growth. The reasons for its success during the early Middle Ages are still unclear. Traditionally, historiography marks a breaking point at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. This is due in part to the increasing production of vernacular texts and the rise of the macabre, particularly with the figure of Helinand of Froidmont. The aim of these sessions is to study poetic expressions of mourning in the light of their medium, their style and their usage. Our purpose is to question the notion of funerary poetry through the study of its various poetic manifestations, while pondering its production and reception: what are the precursory elements? What remains the same over the course of the following centuries? Why is it more appropriate to talk about a transformation or a clear break?
The Material of Funerary Poetry (University of Poitiers, CESCM; September 26 and 27, 2024)
Throughout the Middle Ages, death could inspire poetic composition and the act of writing. The challenge of this first session will be to recognize and characterize the material considered appropriate in the expression of mourning: how can we define funerary poetry today and consider the porosity between its different manifestations (planctus, epitaphs, titles of mortuary rolls)? In what contexts (both manuscript and monumental) do the various expressions of funerary poetry appear? What needs do they meet (commemorative, cathartic, panegyric and liturgical) and for whom are they intended?
This diversity of poetic manifestations is matched by a diversity of uses. We will also look at the links that can be established between the funerary poem and its medium. What factors suggest or impose the form of the funerary poem? What reading practices are assigned to the various media? What traces of orality remain in the written testimonies, and what is the status of musical composition in funerary poetry?
The death of someone is the one common element in all funerary poems. However, this poetry is part of an intertextual network and borrows topoi attested in other literary productions, such as the expression of grief, prayer, and glorification. Which topoi are recurrent in the various manifestations of mourning? Are they wholly or partly conditioned by their medium? What intertextual network are they part of? Do they receive specific treatment depending on their context?
Style and Mise-en-scène of Funerary Poetry (Catholic University of Louvain; November 28 and 29, 2024)
The aim of the second session will be to examine the existence of an aesthetic specific to the expression of mourning. This question will first be addressed from a stylistic point of view. Is there a language or poetics that are specific to funerary subjects? What tools and methods can be mobilized (e.g. stylometric studies, digital humanities)? What are the formal characteristics of funerary poems (e.g. preferred figures, lexical variations, syntactic constructions), and are they conditioned by their medium? What type(s) of versification do poets use?
Then, we will study the representations of funerary poetry along with its staging. The distance between the text and its theoretical support has already been raised by historiography, especially with the case of epitaphs. If all the epitaphs were not engraved, how is their materiality evoked in poetic discourse? What visual codes and graphic features do scribes use to allude to a lapidary epitaph? What are the functions of the adventitious graphic plays, are they an integral part of funerary poetics?
Finally, we need to better define the author's relationship with funeral poetry. What attitudes does the poet develop in the face of the constraints implied by his subject – death? Although the poetic arts of the Middle Ages paid very little attention to the question of literary genre, are there nonetheless traces of a more or less conscious codification? How can didactic models, pastiches and caricatures help us better assess the remains of this codification?
Practical information
The study days will be held respectively in Poitiers (France) on September 26 and 27, 2024, and in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) on November 28 and 29, 2024. The sessions consist in 40-minutes presentations and will be followed by a 20-minutes question and answer session. Round-table sessions will feature young researchers presenting case studies within 20 minutes. A digital format will allow to follow the entire event remotely, if required.
Proposals
Case study proposals (maximum 500 words) should be sent to eleonore.venturelli@uclouvain.be by May 1st, 2024, in English or French.
Organizing committee
Julien De Ridder (fnrs, UCLouvain and University of Geneva), Damien Strzelecki (CESCM, University of Poitiers) and Eléonore Venturelli (fnrs, UCLouvain and University of Poitiers)
Scientific committee
Paul Bertrand (UCLouvain), Estelle Ingrand-Varenne (University of Poitiers), Cécile Treffort (University of Poitiers, IUF), Wim Verbaal (Ghent University)