Recent Dissertations
Copies of the complete text of these theses can be obtained from
University Microfilms (Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan) in any of three
formats: hardbound paper, softcover paper and microfilm positive. We
wish to thank the Xerox Corporation for giving Olifant permission to re-
produce these abstracts from Dissertation Abstracts International.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF MENÉNDEZ PIDAL'S THEORY OF POPULAR EPIC
LENFEST, Donald Edgar, Ph.D.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1974
During his more than seventy years of research in history,
literature, and linguistics, Menéndez Pidal periodically returned to the
question of popular epic, its origin, and development. A disciple of
Milá y Fontanals and Menéndez y Pelayo, he followed their lead, shared
most of their opinions, and inherited their view that the Romantic theory
was outmoded and should be replaced by a more scientific approach. In
his earliest works he devoted his attention to the problems which
they had pointed out; nevertheless, he showed sufficient independence to
disagree with his teachers' claims whenever the evidence proved them
erroneous. He also pushed beyond the scope of their work, making new
hypotheses as his investigations revealed factors which they had not
considered.
Throughout his early years, he was also aware that the new theory
of epic propagated by Bédier and his followers represented a much more
extreme reaction to Romanticism than his own. Although he observed that
the theory proposed for French popular epic could not be successfully
applied to its Spanish equivalent, he at first tried to maintain
neutrality. Nevertheless, the ever-increasing pressure of individualist
claims led him to declare that he would support the traditionalist cause.
True to his word, he criticized Bédier's ideas and methods in every
subsequent work. Further study of Spanish epic made him realize that he
had more in common with the early Romantics, that the truth of many of
their notions was borne out by his investigations. In Poesía juglaresca
y juglares, La España del Cid, Reliquias de la poesía épica española, and
"Los godos y el origen de la epopeya española" he exhaustively treated
such traditional themes as the role of the minstrel, the historicity of
epic, the loss of poems, and Germanic origin. In the process, he modern-
ized Romantic theory so that it would be more acceptable to contemporary
scholars.
Roughly in mid-career, he interrupted the elaboration of his own
theory to answer a series of challenges to his work, in particular,
143
144 Olifant/Vol. 2, No. 2/December 1974
criticisms of the doctrine of historicity. Obviously disturbed that
fellow scholars could associate him with early critics who had considered
the Poema del Cid a rather inept rhymed chronicle, he denied ever having
held that popular epic is intentionally historical, except maybe as a
"doctrinal argument." His apprehension that critics might doubt his
ability to appreciate a work of art, led him to contradict himself on the
matter of historicity. In spite of this, he remained faithful to tradi-
tionalism and afterwards produced substantial works in its defense. For
example, Reliquias de la poesía épica española is at once a masterful
study of the development of Spanish popular epic and a virulent denuncia-
tion of individualism.
Knowing that in order to convince other scholars of the validity
of his theories he had to apply them to French popular epic, he published
La Chanson de Roland y el neotradicionalismo, which is recognized by
supporters and opponents alike as the most complete statement of tradi-
tionalism. After years of dedication to the task of bringing Spanish
philology into the twentieth century, Menéndez Pidal demonstrated in
one decade his competence in French philology. Even confirmed individ-
ualists like Horrent and Le Gentil have praised him as a theoretician,
while disagreeing with some of his conclusions. In becoming the out-
standing spokesman of traditionalism, he recognized his indebtedness to
the Romantics, defending their principal ideas with logic and evidence
which may be disputed but not dismissed.
DAI, Vol. 35, No. 1, p. 462-A
Order No. 74-14,570, 366 pages.
CARLOMAGNO, GANO E ORLANDO IN ALCUNI ROMANZI ITALIANI DEL
XIV E DEL XV SECOLO. Italian Text
CIARAMBINO, Gerardo C. A., Ph.D.
Columbia University, 1973
This work consists of the following chapters: I) INTRODUZIONE;
II) IL FIORAVANTE, I REALI DI FRANCIA E L'ASPRAMONTE; III) DIFFERENZE
TRA I TRE ROMANZI; IV) L'ASPETTO FONDAMENTALE DI CARLOMAGNO, GANO E
ORLANDO; V) CONCLUSIONE; VI) APPENDICE.
The INTRODUZIONE contains an analysis of: (a) historical facts
concerning the Spanish military campaign of the Franks in 778; (b) the
poem The Chanson de Roland, and of its three main characters: Charle-
magne, Guenes and Roland.
The chapter, IL FIORAVANTE, I REALI DI FRANCIA E L'ASPRAMONTE
points out (a) the events described in each work; (b) specific qualities
of some of the main characters and an analysis of those episodes which
Dissertation Abstracts 145
influenced the formation of their personalities; (c) a study of the
narrative art of each author.
The analysis of these three romances points out certain charac-
teristics of the narrative art of the Italian canterini, and their
contribution to the genre. A. da Barberino, one of the authors studied,
narrates the events of his romances in a logical, linear manner. He
deals with his characters from birth to maturity, giving details of the
important moments of their lives. These authors, and especially that of
the Fioravante, reflect a local point of view in narrating their stories.
For them the political grandeur of Western Europe in the Middle Ages
originated from the heroic deeds of some Roman princes. For example,
Fiovo, the nephew of the Roman emperor Constantine, is the first great
Christian king of the Franks.
In the study of the above mentioned novels, the role played by
women in daily courtly life and in connection with the most important
events has also been pointed out. In the Chanson de Roland the woman,
with the exception of the pagan queen Bramimunde, is almost completely
absent; she lives only in the nostalgic memories of some characters.
Guenes and Roland. In the Fioravante the woman plays a very active role
and she is both the master of very intricate situations and of her own
destiny. Her importance becomes even more evident in the Reali di
Francia and L'Aspramonte.
The third chapter, DIFFERENZA TRA I TRE ROMANZI, gives a
comparative analysis of the works in relation to: (a) the cultural
background and the attitude of the author; (b) examples of the narrative
art used to describe: life at court, travel, and battles.
The fourth chapter, L'ASPETTO FONDAMENTALE DI CARLOMAGNO, GANO E
ORLANDO describes particular aspects in the lives of the three characters
in relation to: (a) their childhood; (b) later youth; (c) their achieve-
ments as knights. It shows how the author's inventiveness enriches the
lives of these three characters with many episodes which lead us to a
better understanding of their actions and reactions. For example, the
anonymous author of the Fioravante gives us very enlightening details
concerning the origin of the House of Maganza. This helps considerably
in understanding Gano's hatred for Orlando and Carlomagno. This chapter
also analyses the life of Carlomagno from childhood through his victories
over his enemies. Orlando too is studied in the most significant episodes
which help to understand the temper of the young and proud nephew of
Carlomagno, and the greatest Frank knight. His falling in love with
Aldabella gives us one of the prevailing characteristics of his per-
sonality, shyness, which will be part of the Orlando of Matteo M. Boiardo
and of Ludovico Ariosto.
The CONCLUSIONE summarizes what has been achieved through the
literary study of facts and characters of the Italian chivalric novels
considered in this dissertation.
146 Olifant/Vol. 2, No. 2/December 1974
The APPENDICE gives information about the diffusion of the
Carolingian legends in Italy up to the first half of the twentieth
century.
DAI, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 1041-1042-A
Order No. 74-17,850, 247 pages.
-o-oOo-o-
The February 1974 issue of Olifant contained, in advance of its
publication in Dissertation Abstracts International, the abstract of a
dissertation by one of our new members: John W. Davis, "Le Pèlerinage
de Charlemagne and 'King Arthur and King Cornwall': A Study in the
Evolution of a Tale." That thesis is now available through Xerox
University Microfilms, Order Number 74-14,169, 422 pages, and the
abstract appears in DAI, Vol. 35, No. 1, p. 397-A.
This month we are happy to be able to present once again, in
advance of publication in DAI, the abstract of another dissertation by
one of our members:
REPETITIVE SEQUENCES AND THEIR EFFECT ON NARRATIVE STYLE IN SPANISH
AND SOUTH SLAVIC TRADITIONAL NARRATIVE POETRY (ALSO APPEARING IN
BIBLIOGRAPHIES AS THE "ROMANCERO" AND THE SOUTH SLAVIC "BUGAR.TICA":
A STUDY OF REPETITIVE SEQUENCES AND THEIR EFFECT ON NARRATIVE STYLE)
John S. MILETICH, Ph.D.
University of Chicago, 1973
First Readers: Svetozar Petroviæ, University of Novi Sad, Yugoslavia
Ruth H. Webber, University of Chicago
Second Readers: Peter F. Dembowski, University of Chicago
Frantisek Svejkovsky, University of Chicago
The dissertation deals with the problem of narrative style with a
view to adding a new dimension to the study of the shorter traditional
narrative poem as well as a new approach to the investigation of tradi-
tional narrative style in general. Six different types of "repetitive
sequences," closely occurring successive repetitions within each poem,
have been isolated in an investigation of over 3,000 approximately
octosyllabic units. The material studied consists of twenty-four
sixteenth century Spanish romances of the Wolf and Hofmann collection
and twenty-two South Slavic bugar.tice (singular: bugar.tica) from an
early eighteenth century manuscript later edited by Valtazar Bogi.iæ.
On the basis of a detailed classification of the matter according
Dissertation Abstracts 147
to the various kinds of repetition as well as of an examination of their
effect on narrative style, the following general conclusion has been
reached. The six kinds of repetition may be divided into two principal
categories, the "elaborate" type, or those which prolong the presentation
of the tale, and the "essential" type, or those which contribute to the
acceleration of the flow of information. Furthermore, the style of both
the romance and the bugar.tica is fundamentally "essential" or rapid in
communicating new information but with a considerably pronounced retard-
ing tendency, which results from the fairly high frequency of elaborate
style repetitions.
The present investigation is to be clearly distinguished from an
examination of the role of motifs which serve to accelerate or delay the
forward movement of the plot. A descriptive passage may serve to retard
advances in narrative but the same description may occur either in an
"elaborate" or an "essential" manner depending on whether repetition
employing basically the same idea is dominant or not.
The methodology employed in the thesis may be applied more
broadly toward a fuller understanding of the nature of epos and ballad.
The question of narrative style viewed from the standpoint of "repetitive
sequences" may be examined in such extensive narratives as The Epic of
Gilgamesh, the Homeric poems, Beowulf, the medieval Romance epics and
the South Slavic Moslem deseterac. The resulting tendencies may then be
compared to the data obtained from a similar application to such shorter
traditional narratives as the Judeo-Spanish romancero, the shorter South
Slavic songs and the Russian bylina. Through such analysis a more ob-
jective and comprehensive understanding of the narrative style of epos
and ballad is possible.
Available in microfilm from the University of Chicago.