Michel Zink
The Middle Ages and their songs. A past in trompe l'oeil
The songs known as are neither as old nor as naïve as they appear. We know this, but we can't help looking for their ancestors, in whom these characteristics would be authentic. We go all the way back to the Middle Ages, and find that medieval songs maintain the same illusion, loving to pass themselves off as ancient or popular, even when they're not.
Why are we susceptible to the seduction of poetry that claims to be rooted in the depths of the past and in the childhood of individuals and peoples ? Why does the poetry of every age, even the most remote, balance its new and learned productions with others artificially marked by the signs of antiquity and simplicity ? In what way does this trait belong to the very nature of literature ?
These questions are examined here through the example of songs, which are particularly telling in this respect. This enchanting corpus is an opportunity for Michel Zink to take a stroll through a soundscape that has spanned the ages, inviting its way into literature right up to the contemporary period.
This book includes Michel Zink's opening lecture at the Collège de France and the lecture that followed.
Zink M., Le Moyen Âge et ses chansons. Un passé en trompe l'œil, Paris, Collège de France/Les Belles Lettres, coll. " Docet omnia ", 2024.
ISBN :978-2-251-45630-0
Price : €21.90
Publication : November 15, 2024
