Abstract
Scholars have not failed to comment upon the fact that Chrétien de Troyes treats with much care the names of his characters, both main and secondary. The poet himself invites us to reflect upon personal names and their etymologies, along with cognomens, aliases, recognitions, divulgations, and the loss and recovery of names, in his first four narratives. This is particularly true in his last romance, of which naming constitutes an element deserving closer study than it has received. Here Chrétien goes well beyond his handling of the matter in, e.g., Yvain and the Charrete; he repeatedly draws attention to the Welsh hero's name, first unknown, then "guessed" by him and deeply expressive of his actions and nature. Gauvain's name too, as revealed or concealed, forms an important psychological element. Beyond this, the romance gives prominence to names and cognomens in general, laying stress on the ways a character may make himself known, acknowledge the existence of others, and even come to self-knowledge.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Références
Busby, Keith. Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval (Le Conte du Graal). London: Grant & Cutler, 1993. (Critical Guides to French Texts, 98.)
Busby, Keith, éd. Chrétien de Troyes, Le Roman de Perceval ou le Conte du Graal. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1995.
Foerster, Wendelin, und Hermann Breuer. Wörterbuch zu Kristian von Troyes' Sämtlichen Werken, 3e éd. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1964.
Frappier, Jean. Chrétien de Troyes et le mythe du Graal: Etude sur Perceval ou le Conte du Graal. Paris: S.E.D.E.S., 1972.
Fritz, J.-M., éd. Chrétien de Troyes, Erec et Enide. Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1992. (Le Livre de Poche, Lettres gothiques.)
Green, D. H. “The Art of Namedropping in Wolfram's ‘Parzival’,” dans Wolfram-Studien, VI. Berlin: E. Schmidt, 1980, pp. 89–101.
Gregory, Stewart. Voir à Luttrell.
Kellermann, Wilhelm. Aufbaustil und Weltbild Chrestiens von Troyes im Percevalroman. Halle/Saale: Niemeyer, 1936.
Luttrell, Claude, and Stewart Gregory, éds. Chrétien de Troyes, Cligés. Cambridge: Brewer, 1993.
Ménard, Philippe. 1984. “Problèmes et mystères du ‘Conte du Graal’: un essai d'interprétation,” dans Chrétien de Troyes et le Graal (Colloque arthurien de Bruges), éd. par J. de Caluwe-Dor et H. Braet. Paris: Nizet, pp. 61–76.
Ollier, M.-L. Lexique et concordance de Chrétien de Troyes d'après la copie de Guiot. Montréal: Institut d'Etudes Médiévales/Paris: Vrin, 1989.
Pickens, Rupert. The Welsh Knight. Paradoxicality in Chrétien's ‘Conte del Graal.’ Lexington, KY: French Forum, 1977.
Sargent-Baur, Barbara N. 1996. “Alexander and the Conte du Graal,” dans Arthurian Literature, XIV, eds. J. P. Carley and F. Riddy. Cambridge: Brewer, pp. 1–18.
Sargent-Baur, Barbara N. La Destre et la senestre. Etude sur le “Conte du Graal” de Chrétien de Troyes. Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi, 2000.
Taylor, Jane H. M. “Perceval/Perceforest: Naming as Hermeneutic in the Roman de Perceforest,” Romance Quarterly 44 (1997): 201–214.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sargent-Baur, B.N. Le Jeu Des Noms De Personnes Dans Le Conte Du Graal. Neophilologus 85, 485–499 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011888531349
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011888531349