Rémanences: mémoires de la forme dans la littérature médiévale (review)

This collection brings together studies of medieval texts published by the author over the last twenty years; its aim is to demonstrate the conscious 'jeu de mémoire, ce resurgissement du récit antérieur' (p. 24) to be found in literature of the Middle Ages — literature in this case to be understood in a wide sense, comprising Latin, Old and Middle French texts from pious, religious, and didactic genres as well as lyric or romance. Rémanence is examined in terms of the resonances of formal features of texts, as a complement to recent studies that have examined thematic or onomastic echoes. Hüe seeks not so much to formulate an overarching theory of medieval literary practice as to bring his practical experience of reading texts to suggest approaches by which we might comprehend the fluidity of forms that engage in many complex and allusive intertextual conversations, generating a wealth of underlying expectations for medieval writers. The collection is divided into three sections corresponding to three principles around which texts may be organized: the borrowing of forms for texts from other fields such as architecture, or the world of familiar objects such as a garden or mirror; the hybridization resulting from overlaying one form upon another; and the play between texts with references to structuring models or principles. Hüe's method is to look at both themes and texts in their broadest possible context, whether this is to explore all possible meanings of a word, as in the article on mirrors in Part I, or to sketch, with erudition and skill, the background to a topic, such as epistolary practice in the essay on Rutebeuf 's Le Voir Dit in Part II. He thus captures many of the elusive rémanences that underpin medieval works but may escape modern readers. Hence the great merits of this volume are the breadth of the author's reading — a glance at the list of works cited is sufficient to reveal his knowledge of familiar and unfamiliar texts — and his ability to bring fresh insights to familiar material, such as the chapter on the fountain and pine in Le Chevalier au Lion in Part III, which shows the way in which Chrétien uses these as both ironic and structural elements in his narrative. However, there is an inherent tension between the benefits to be gained from such expert expositions and the dangers of trying to impose, a posteriori, a framework on works largely conceived as individual studies. Whilst the author does remind us that these are 'microlectures' (p. 24), some further commentary beyond the Introduction as to the 'macrolecture' that has brought them together is needed. Just as Hüe has demonstrated how medieval texts can be read within a series of juxtapositions, the bringing together of his own works suggests a network of allusions and interchanges that can inform our reading. To borrow the image from the essay on 'le contenu des jardins' (Part I), this collection has words and knowledge to be picked and enjoyed if its structural principles are clearly understood.