Artushof und Artusliteratur (review)

Two recent publications should be lauded for their attempts at generating renewed interest in German Arthurian literature. One, the 2010 offering by Arthuriana (20.3), is devoted to new readings of the German texts. The other, the book under review, is a collection of nineteen essays from the German-Austrian section of the 2008 International Arthurian Society in Gießen. The book succeeds in many ways. The essays are well researched, written, and edited. The collection stays true to its focus, analyzing primarily German sources, but also framing the analysis within the wider tradition of Arthurian literature in Europe. And like the edition of Arthuriana, it engages the Arthurian texts with new approaches and methodologies. As has been the trend in recent scholarship, some of the essays reevaluate the designation of "classical" or "postclassical" courtly literature, demonstrating that "postclassical" works have literary merit of their own. Many of the contributions take a critical view of earlier scholarship's acceptance of Arthur as the ideal ruler and his court as a utopian space. In a similar interpretive move, other articles call into question the role that crisis plays at the court and whether it is an essential textual element of the courtly romance.

A great strength of this volume is its organization. In order to provide an in-depth discussion of new approaches to Arthurian literature, the editors sensibly divide the book into four thematic sections: Part One addresses the interpretative issues brought up by the "spatial turn" in literary scholarship; Part Two examines power and eros at Arthur's court; Part Three explores the hybrid nature of Arthurian literature; Part Four looks at the reception of Arthurian literature in the postcourtly and postmedieval context. What results from this organization are cohesive sections in which the essays read well together. Each essay is written in German and is accompanied by a short abstract in English, an aid to non-German readers the editors could very well have done without, as many of the abstracts contain egregious language errors.

Part One will interest scholars exploring spatial issues and the court. Friedrich Wolfzettel calls into question the long-held notion that Arthur and his court represent a utopian ideal. Wolfzettel's discussion of crisis at Arthur's court is particularly compelling. He demonstrates that crisis is already a fundamental element of early courtly literature and ironically functions for the reader as the sole indicator for a once-present but ever-fleeting ideal. In doing so, Wolfzettel provides a convincing argument that the distinction of "classical" and "postclassical" courtly literature is inaccurate. Fritz Peter Knapp comes to a similar conclusion. By comparing the description of Arthur's court in early to late courtly literature, Knapp shows that the court represents less of an ideal and possesses a more functional role in these texts. Knapp argues that rich descriptions of the court appear only to aid plot and character development. Stefanie Schmitt's essay is also comparative, focusing on ceremonial greetings and knighting scenes in Chrétien and German courtly literature. Schmitt's comparison reconfirms Joachim Bumke's thesis that the German poets borrowed generously from French courtly culture. By concentrating on two specific aspects of courtly life, however, Schmitt is able to give a more nuanced reading of this reception than Bumke. Schmitt shows that the German poets often omitted or greatly reduced Chrétien's attention to detail to emphasize the exemplary behavior of a specific character during courtly ceremony. Behavior within the public sphere of the court is also the focus of Christoph Schanze's study. Schanze explores the tension between public and private in Wirnt von Grafenberg's Wigalois and Hartmann von Aue's Iwein. Schanze's approach reconfirms Horst Wenzel's and Jan-Dirk Müller's work on the importance of the public sphere to the political and social harmony of the court.

Part Two explores issues of power and eros at the court. Cora Dietl's strong contribution asks why Merlin is absent...