La Corne et l'ivoire: étude sur le récit de rêve dans la littérature romanesque des XIIe et XIIIe siècles (review)

Mireille Demaules proposes in this book an 'ouvrage de synthèse' that attempts to chart the 'histoire d'un motif littéraire, celui du songe' (p. 12). She starts with an initial premise which it takes her some time to articulate, namely, that there are two fundamental approaches to the interpretation of literary dreams: the one artificial and rule-oriented, most often associated with the use of dreams as a conduit for prophecy in premodern literature; and the other, inspired by Freudian psychoanalysis, that uncovers the mechanisms of 'true dreams' (the locution rêve réel, whatever that means, recurs repeatedly), which are predicated upon unconscious desires, typically involving conflicts filed under the rubric of 'family romance' (incest, adultery, Oedipal conflicts) and such principles as free association, condensation, and displacement. Her general argument attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of medieval dreams, showing that even in their most traditional form they display a knowledge of, and sensitivity to, 'authentic' everyday dreams. Demaules makes no claims to exhaustivity, but sets out a corpus of some twenty works extending from the Chanson de Roland to the continuation of the Roman de la Rose by Jean de Meun, including an appendix that compiles the list of dreams in the works studied. A first chapter usefully discusses the medieval terminology and attempts to make formal distinctions between, for instance, dreams and visions, involving an intriguing discussion of the etymology of the word rêve/rêver. The following six chapters are devoted to the romans antiques (Chapter 2), courtly romance and lais (Chapter 3), the prose Lancelot-Grail (Chapters 4-6), and the Roman de la Rose (Chapter 7). The conclusions Demaules draws regarding the historical trajectory suggest that, from a literary motif that manifests itself as a divinely inspired, prophetic phenomenon associated almost exclusively with important figures, the dream undergoes a 'laïcisation [. . .] et une désacralisation' (p. 605), which is to say that it is increasingly portrayed as a subjective human experience. Hence the importance of the psychoanalytic approach. There are several fine interpretative moments, including the discussion of Yseut's dream in Béroul's Tristan. But there are weaknesses of various kinds. First, at approximately six hundred pages, the text is far too long and becomes repetitive. The author shows a shocking indifference to previous scholarship (especially in the case of works that have spawned a large scholarly tradition), preferring to draw, in a rather derivative manner, upon a handful of favourite authors and/or mentors, such as Daniel Poirion, Christiane Marchello-Nizia, and Armand Strubel. Critical commonplaces are voiced as though they were new discoveries. The entire framework of the argument, attempting to justify the use of psychoanalysis as an interpretative tool, which smacks of a work written in the pre-Lacanian days of the 1960s, is unnecessary in the twenty-first century. The psychoanalytic approach is also contradictory, given that it is every bit as doctrinaire as is the 'moralizing' discourse of Christianity, leading Demaules occasionally into interpretations not justified by the text. The volume is, in short, a disappointment and sheds little new light on the works considered.