Vernacular Literary Theory in the Middle Ages

This is a critically acclaimed study of medieval literary theory.

This book first appeared in German in 1985, and set an agenda for the study of medieval literary theory. While Haug focuses primarily on medieval German writers, his arguments are equally relevant to medieval literature in any other European language.The first edition of this book appeared in German in 1985, and set an agenda for the study of medieval literary theory. Rather than seeing vernacular writers' reflections on their art, as found in prologues, epilogues and interpolations in literary texts, as merely deriving from established Latin traditions, Walter Haug shows that they marked the gradual emancipation of an independent vernacular poetics that went hand in hand with changing narrative forms. While focusing primarily on medieval German writers, Haug also takes into account French literature of the same period, and the principles underlying his argument are equally relevant to medieval literature in English or any other European language.