The Avatars of Orable-Guibourc from French 'chanson de geste' to Italian 'romanzo cavalleresco'. A Persistent Multiple Alterity

Orable-Guibourc, a Saracen princess in the Guillaume d'Orange (or Monglane) cycle of chansons de geste epitomizes the «Saracen princess» story, in which a Muslim princess abandons her community for love of a Christian fighter. Yet Guibourc's character never becomes truly a part of her new community: linked to her previous religion and family, fears of treachery distance her from the Christians. Similarly, her having renounced her upbringing keeps her forever from her home, though her husband and family there still claim her as property. Writers from the first Old French texts where she appears through Renaissance Italians play upon this double jeopardy, interpreting and depicting her role and acts in different ways, emphasizing varying aspects of her personality, family and background, keeping her forever different, forever Other. This article outlines some of the historical contexts and forms in which authors worked to produce these avatars of Orable/Guibourc

“Qe sor les autres è de gran valor”: Ogier le Danois in the Italian Tradition

Ogier le Danois arrived in Italy with chansons de geste in the 13th century. Ogier’s life story was developed in Franco-Italian and Tuscan texts including his adventures, adding and subtracting details to accounts of his enfances and chevalerie. But one element remained constant: his sword, Curtana. That sword became a symbol of the character through all his transformations (and in any format: chanson de geste, ottava rima, prose), throughout his life cycle from the time he became a knight, when he took it from a Saracen whom he defeated. Ogier only killed when provoked or challenged, and held his hand when offered revenge. Curtana thus represented steadfast and measured character, and was claimed by rulers – such as the Gonzaga – as a symbol of their own positive attributes, and a warning about their combative abilities.Ogier le Danois est arrivé en Italie au XIIIe siècle, avec les chansons de geste. L’histoire de sa vie a été développée dans les récits franco-italiens et toscans de ses aventures, en ajoutant ou en enlevant des détails aux différentes versions de ses enfances et de sa chevalerie. Mais un élément est resté toujours le même: son épée, Courtain. Cette épée est devenue le symbole du personnage à travers toutes les transformations des textes (dans toutes les formes d’écriture: chanson de geste, ottava rima, prose), et tout au long de sa vie, depuis le moment où il est devenu chevalier, et où il l’a obtenue d’un Sarrasin qu’il avait vaincu. Courtain est ainsi restée comme symbole d’un caractère loyal et mesuré, revendiqué par des gouvernants, comme les Gonzague, en tant que signe de leurs qualités et garantie de leurs capacités guerrières

“Qe sor les autres è de gran valor”: Ogier le Danois in the Italian Tradition

Ogier le Danois arrived in Italy with chansons de geste in the 13th century. Ogier’s life story was developed in Franco-Italian and Tuscan texts including his adventures, adding and subtracting details to accounts of his enfances and chevalerie. But one element remained constant: his sword, Curtana. That sword became a symbol of the character through all his transformations (and in any format: chanson de geste, ottava rima, prose), throughout his life cycle from the time he became a knight, when he took it from a Saracen whom he defeated. Ogier only killed when provoked or challenged, and held his hand when offered revenge. Curtana thus represented steadfast and measured character, and was claimed by rulers – such as the Gonzaga – as a symbol of their own positive attributes, and a warning about their combative abilities.Ogier le Danois est arrivé en Italie au XIIIe siècle, avec les chansons de geste. L’histoire de sa vie a été développée dans les récits franco-italiens et toscans de ses aventures, en ajoutant ou en enlevant des détails aux différentes versions de ses enfances et de sa chevalerie. Mais un élément est resté toujours le même: son épée, Courtain. Cette épée est devenue le symbole du personnage à travers toutes les transformations des textes (dans toutes les formes d’écriture: chanson de geste, ottava rima, prose), et tout au long de sa vie, depuis le moment où il est devenu chevalier, et où il l’a obtenue d’un Sarrasin qu’il avait vaincu. Courtain est ainsi restée comme symbole d’un caractère loyal et mesuré, revendiqué par des gouvernants, comme les Gonzague, en tant que signe de leurs qualités et garantie de leurs capacités guerrières

Industrial SO2 pollution and agricultural losses in China: evidence from heavy air polluters

This paper aims to assess the agricultural losses caused by the 2069 state-monitored heavily air polluting enterprises located in 899 Chinese counties. We examine the correlation between per capita number of state-monitored enterprises and other socio-economic indices to show the negative impacts of sulphur dioxide (SO2) industrial air pollution on agricultural development in the regions. Despite these enterprises being the main drivers of economic development in China’s counties, surrounding agricultural land continues to be degraded because of the associated SO2 emissions. The cost of agricultural losses due to pollution is estimated at US$ 1.43 billion, representing 0.66% of the total agricultural value added of the 899 Chinese counties. The findings highlight the importance of cleaner production and have policy implications for dealing with industrial air pollution

Closure and the Book of Virgil

Taking its initial inspiration from Lipking’s first foray into what is now known as ‘career criticism’ this chapter considers the ‘wheel of Virgil’ and the works of the poet’s ancient biographers in structuring structuring readers’ understanding of his three canonical works and of the connections between them. Rejecting the idea that the career pattern necessarily means that we must see Virgil as progressing towards ever greater acceptance of the political realities of his day, the chapter instead looks to different models of reading, in which attention to intratextual echoes prevents purely linear and teleological interpretations. It is proposed that the Book of Virgil demands a circular rather than a linear pattern of reading, and that the role played by the image of shade and darkness, and the word umbra in particular, is to unify the three works in rejecting the triumph of epic and empir

Gigante (Claudio) & Palumbo (Giovanni), éds. La tradizione epica e cavalleresca in Italia (XII-XVI sec.), 2010

Zarker Morgan Leslie. Gigante (Claudio) & Palumbo (Giovanni), éds. La tradizione epica e cavalleresca in Italia (XII-XVI sec.), 2010. In: Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, tome 91, fasc. 2, 2013. Histoire médiévale, moderne et contemporaine Middeleeuwse, moderne en hedendaagse geschiedenis. pp. 506-511

Huon d'Auvergne

https://edblogs.columbia.edu/worldepics/project/huon-dauvergne/Summary and background for general public about the chanson de geste

Huon d'Auvergne

https://edblogs.columbia.edu/worldepics/project/huon-dauvergne/Summary and background for general public about the chanson de geste