On the Mouve: Medieval French Literary Adaptations

As manuscript studies reemerge to the forefront of medieval literary studies, the concept of mouvance—Paul Zumthor’s account of the mobility, variability and instability of medieval texts through various scribal and authorial interventions and adaptations—can perhaps be re-examined. In this panel, we would like to consider mouvance not as an inherent property of the medieval text to be described solely by philological and textual editing practices, but as an active stimulus to critical inquiry. What does mouvance do to notions of the “text”? How do we read or teach parallel versions of a literary work? When do changes in a text become significant and why do they occur? When and how do mobile texts challenge interpretive methodologies? We welcome papers that consider dynamic French texts in citation, translation, adaptation, and in various manuscript contexts.

Please send a 250 word abstract to Elizabeth Hebbard and Elizabeth Voss (ekhebbard@gmail.com) by September 1, 2014.