Overview

In Courtly and Queer, Charlie Samuelson casts queerness in medieval French texts about courtly love in a new light by bringing together for the first time two exemplary genres: high medieval verse romance, associated with the towering figure of Chrétien de Troyes, and late medieval dits, primarily associated with Guillaume de Machaut. In close readings informed by deconstruction and queer theory, Samuelson argues that the genres' juxtaposition opens up radical new perspectives on the deviant poetics and gender and sexual politics of both. Contrary to a critical tradition that locates the queer Middle Ages at the margins of these courtly genres, Courtly and Queer emphasizes an unflagging queerness that is inseparable from poetic indeterminacy and that inhabits the core of a literary tradition usually assumed to be conservative and patriarchal. Ultimately, Courtly and Queer contends that one facet of texts commonly referred to as their ""courtliness""--namely, their literary sophistication--powerfully overlaps with modern conceptions of queerness.

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9780814214985

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Reviews

""Courtly & Queer ultimately demonstrates what queer scholarship still has to gain from a deconstructive approach ... The book's understanding of queerness is valuable not only for deconstructing the libidinal investments of courtly texts, but also for destabilizing the generic categories and (often teleological) historical narratives into which such texts are inserted. This is smart scholarship that repays careful reading and that gives literary historians, as well as queer medievalists, important food for thought."" --Emma Campbell, H-France Review ""In Courtly and Queer: Deconstruction, Desire, and Medieval French Literature, Charlie Samuelson situates queerness not in the margins, in lesser known or read texts, but rather at the centre of the canon of French courtly poetry. ... through intricate and compelling close readings, he draws out the 'deviant poetics and sexual politics' at the heart of courtly literature."" --Moss Pepe, Forum for Modern Language Studies ""Samuelson is a first-rate medievalist--intellectually rigorous and theoretically sophisticated in ways that enable him to push back against rigid disciplinary constraints and stale orthodoxies. His engagement with verse romance and dits as sites of rhetorical, fictional, and libidinal deviation will inspire scholarly debate for years to come."" --Noah D. Guynn, author of Pure Filth: Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Early French Farce ""The title, though accurate in a comprehensive sense, does not really capture the excitement that this book conveys or the full complexity of its arguments ... Samuelson rubs text against theory so convincingly that their interaction seems natural, essential, almost eerily in sync. The writing is breezy, witty, conversational ... This is a book well worth reading and then reading again."" --Bill Burgwinkle, French Studies ""Courtly and Queer is masterfully written, ambitious, and provocative. Samuelson's integration of queer theory into French medieval scholarship bears exciting new implications for questions of authorship, metadiscourse, poetics, and narrative."" --Deborah McGrady, author of The Writer's Gift or the Patron's Pleasure? The Literary Economy in Late Medieval France

"""Courtly & Queer ultimately demonstrates what queer scholarship still has to gain from a deconstructive approach ... The book's understanding of queerness is valuable not only for deconstructing the libidinal investments of courtly texts, but also for destabilizing the generic categories and (often teleological) historical narratives into which such texts are inserted. This is smart scholarship that repays careful reading and that gives literary historians, as well as queer medievalists, important food for thought."" --Emma Campbell, H-France ""The title, though accurate in a comprehensive sense, does not really capture the excitement that this book conveys or the full complexity of its arguments ... Samuelson rubs text against theory so convincingly that their interaction seems natural, essential, almost eerily in sync. The writing is breezy, witty, conversational ... This is a book well worth reading and then reading again."" --Bill Burgwinkle, French Studies ""Courtly and Queer is masterfully written, ambitious, and provocative. Samuelson's integration of queer theory into French medieval scholarship bears exciting new implications for questions of authorship, metadiscourse, poetics, and narrative."" --Deborah McGrady, author of The Writer's Gift or the Patron's Pleasure? The Literary Economy in Late Medieval France ""Samuelson is a first-rate medievalist--intellectually rigorous and theoretically sophisticated in ways that enable him to push back against rigid disciplinary constraints and stale orthodoxies. His engagement with verse romance and dits as sites of rhetorical, fictional, and libidinal deviation will inspire scholarly debate for years to come."" --Noah D. Guynn, author of Pure Filth: Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Early French Farce"

"""Courtly and Queer is masterfully written, ambitious, and provocative. Samuelson's integration of queer theory into French medieval scholarship bears exciting new implications for questions of authorship, metadiscourse, poetics, and narrative."" --Deborah McGrady, author of The Writer's Gift or the Patron's Pleasure? The Literary Economy in Late Medieval France ""Samuelson is a first-rate medievalist--intellectually rigorous and theoretically sophisticated in ways that enable him to push back against rigid disciplinary constraints and stale orthodoxies. His engagement with verse romance and dits as sites of rhetorical, fictional, and libidinal deviation will inspire scholarly debate for years to come."" --Noah D. Guynn, author of Pure Filth: Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Early French Farce"

Courtly and Queer is masterfully written, ambitious, and provocative. Samuelson's integration of queer theory into French medieval scholarship bears exciting new implications for questions of authorship, metadiscourse, poetics, and narrative. --Deborah McGrady, author of The Writer's Gift or the Patron's Pleasure? The Literary Economy in Late Medieval France Samuelson is a first-rate medievalist--intellectually rigorous and theoretically sophisticated in ways that enable him to push back against rigid disciplinary constraints and stale orthodoxies. His engagement with verse romance and dits as sites of rhetorical, fictional, and libidinal deviation will inspire scholarly debate for years to come. --Noah D. Guynn, author of Pure Filth: Ethics, Politics, and Religion in Early French Farce

Author Information

Charlie Samuelson is an Assistant Professor of French at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

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