In this Book
- European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Princeton University Press
- Series: Bollingen Series (General)
Published just after the Second World War, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages is a sweeping exploration of the remarkable continuity of European literature across time and place, from the classical era up to the early nineteenth century, and from the Italian peninsula to the British Isles. In what T. S. Eliot called a "magnificent" book, Ernst Robert Curtius establishes medieval Latin literature as the vital transition between the literature of antiquity and the vernacular literatures of later centuries. The result is nothing less than a masterful synthesis of European literature from Homer to Goethe.
European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages is a monumental work of literary scholarship. In a new introduction, Colin Burrow provides critical insights into Curtius's life and ideas and highlights the distinctive importance of this wonderful book.
Table of Contents
- Introduction to the 2013 Edition
- pp. xi-xx
- Translator's Note
- p. xxi
- Note of Acknowledgment
- p. xxii
- Author's Foreword to the English Translation
- pp. xxiii-xxvi
- Guiding Principles
- p. xxviii
- 1. European Literature
- pp. 3-16
- 2. The Latin Middle Ages
- pp. 17-35
- 3. Literature and Education
- pp. 36-61
- 4. Rhetoric
- pp. 62-78
- 6. The Goddess Natura
- pp. 106-127
- 7. Metaphorics
- pp. 128-144
- 8. Poetry and Rhetoric
- pp. 145-166
- 9. Heroes and Rulers
- pp. 167-182
- 10. The Ideal Landscape
- pp. 183-202
- 11. Poetry and Philosophy
- pp. 203-213
- 12. Poetry and Theology
- pp. 214-227
- 13. The Muses
- pp. 228-246
- 14. Classicism
- pp. 247-272
- 15. Mannerism
- pp. 273-301
- 16. The Book as Symbol
- pp. 302-347
- 18. Epilogue
- pp. 380-402
- Excursuses
- II. Devotional Formula and Humility
- pp. 407-413
- IV. Jest and Earnest in Medieval Literature
- pp. 417-435
- V. Late Antique Literary Studies
- pp. 436-445
- VIII. The Poet's Divine Frenzy
- pp. 474-475
- IX. Poetry as Perpetuation
- pp. 476-477
- X. Poetry as Entertainment
- pp. 478-479
- XI. Poetry and Scholasticism
- pp. 480-484
- XII. The Poet's Pride
- pp. 485-486
- XIII. Brevity as an Ideal of Style
- pp. 487-494
- XIV. Etymology as a Category of Thought
- pp. 495-500
- XV. Numerical Composition
- pp. 501-509
- XVI. Numerical Apothegms
- pp. 510-514
- XVIII. The "Chivalric System of the Virtues"
- pp. 519-537
- XIX. The Ape as Metaphor
- pp. 538-540
- XX. Spain's Cultural "Belatedness"
- pp. 541-543
- XXI. God as Maker
- pp. 544-546
- XXIV. Montesquieu, Ovid, and Virgil
- pp. 571-572
- XXV. Diderot and Horace
- pp. 573-586
- Bibliographical Note
- pp. 599-602