Curial e Güelfa

This paper aims to point out the Greek novel main motifs, which,
through the novella II.7 of Decameron, appear in the Catalan chivalric novel Curial e Güelfa. We also intend to assess their relevance in the work and analyze their treatment by the Anonymous, from the intertextualities previously identifi ed. In our opinion, it is a crucial aspect in the plot of the Catalan novel that the author takes consciously
from Boccaccio narrative model. Boccaccio thus appears to us as an intermediary with the Classical Tradition, as a link between Catalan writer and the Greco-Latin world the author considers repeatedly as a paradigm in his novel.

Podemos decir que la caballería fue una institución aristocrática que se desarrolló en el feudalismo, cuando el concepto de caballero es adoptado por los señores una vez desprovisto de su l significación militar origina. Dicha institución contribuyó, en el aspecto social, a la fijación de una nobleza de carácter hereditario, fundada en el linaje y, en el aspecto ideológico, a la elaboración del ideal caballeresco.

Deia Italo Calvino que els clàssics són aquells llibres que «quanto più si crede di conoscerli per sentito dire, tanto più quando si leggono davvero si trovano nuovi, inaspettati, inediti». En una tradició tan escardalenca com la nostra, de la novel·la anònima del segle xv Curial e Güelfa fins ara se n'havia sentit a dir ben poca cosa més enllà de l'entorn acadèmic especialitzat. Afortunadament, l'editorial Quaderns Crema corregeix aquesta anomalia cultural amb una nova edició de l'obra a càrrec de dos medievalistes de vàlua reconeguda, els professors Lola Badia (Universitat de Barcelona) i Jaume Torró (Universitat de Girona). L'edició té la virtut de difondre un clàssic i de fer-ho amb un rigor i una precisió crítiques d'alt nivell. Les aportacions dels professors Badia i Torró són fonamentals: hom té la sensació de llegir per primera vegada el Curial, de descobrir una novel·la nova, i la certesa de fer-ne una lectura exacta en les seves coordenades històriques però rica en interpretacions i matisos, una lectura davvero.

Academic Memorial presented on April 26, 2017 to a Special Commission to progress to the last level of academic career in Brazil (Professor Titular), with the narrative (textual and imagery) of my intellectual trajectory, from the formation (in the beginning of the decade of 80 of the 20th century, in graduations in History at the University of Santa Ursula and Estácio de Sá University) until December 2016, with professional and academic choices, research topics, activities of teaching, research and extension (in undergraduate and four postgraduate studies – masters of History, Philosophy and Arts of UFES and doctorate of the Universitat d’Alacant) as well as the publications of my translations of medieval documents and works (books and articles) published in Brazil and abroad.

a cura di), Linguaggi del metareale nella cultura catalana, Dipartimento di Lingue e letterature straniere e culture moderne-Università di Torino, Torino 2016 -ISBN 978-88-7590-106-6 In copertina: Corrado Trincali, Gli asini di Turmeda, 2015, collezione privata Progetto grafico e impaginazione: Arun Maltese (www.bibliobear.com) Volume patrocinato da: I «QUADERNI DI RICOGNIZIONI» «QuadRi» -Quaderni di RiCOGNIZIONI è la collana curata dal Comitato scientifico e dalla Redazione di RiCOGNIZIONI. Rivista di lingue, letterature e culture moderne, edita online dal Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne dell'Università di Torino. La rivista e i suoi Quaderni nascono con l'intento di promuovere ri-cognizioni, sia trattando da prospettive diverse autori, movimenti, argomenti ampiamente dibattuti della cultura mondiale, sia ospitando interventi su questioni linguistiche e letterarie non ancora sufficientemente indagate. I Quaderni di RiCOGNIZIONI sono destinati ad accogliere in forma di volume i risultati di progetti di ricerca e gli atti di convegni e incontri di studio.

Resum: La crítica ha trobat al Curial e Güelfa petges molt evidents d’influència de la literatura italiana, i en particular de Boccaccio. Tanmateix no ha estat estudiada una altra influència italiana, la purament lingüística. Un estudi detingut del Curial ha permés identificar a l’obra nombrosos elements que mostren la seua origen italiana. Molts d’aquests elements es troben presents a les obres de Boccaccio, concretament en el Decameron. Per cada element identificat al Curial s’ofereixen exemples de les obres de Boccaccio.
Paraules clau: Curial e Güelfa; Boccaccio; italianismes; influència; català
Abstract: Several scholars have found in Curial e Güelfa very clear traces of influence of Italian literature, and in particular of Boccaccio. Therefore, no other Italian influence, the purely linguistic one, has not been studied. A detailed study of the Curial has identified many elements that show their italian origin. Many of these elements are present in the works of Boccaccio, specifically in the Decameron. For each item identified in Curial, we provide some examples from the works of Boccaccio.
Keywords: Curial e Güelfa; Boccaccio; italianisms; influence; Catalan

El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar algunos paralelos de las damas de la novela caballeresca catalana Curial e Güelfa con rasgos representativos de los modelos femeninos dominantes en la tradición erótica de los clásicos grecolatinos, en especial, el de la docta puella de los poetas elegíacos.

La recerca sobre la novel·la cavalleresca Curial e Güelfa ha experimentat un avenç notable en els darrers decennis, amb el consens unànime de la crítica quant a la riquesa de les referències culturals del text català, creat en un context italià. La intuïció sobre l’ús de fonts grecollatines desconegudes a la Península en l’època de la gestació de la novel·la, entre els anys 1440-1450, s’ha vist confirmada amb estudis des de molts diversos vessants, que suggereixen la proximitat de l’autor als cercles humanistes italians del Quatre-cents. Un dels aspectes que romanen sense analitzar en profunditat és la relació del text català amb la novel·la grega i bizantina. Des d’aquesta perspectiva oferim un estudi
comparat dels somnis i visions de l’obra catalana, aspecte que ha estat ja posat en relació amb la tradició llatina, provençal, boccacciana i amb els comentaristes llatins de la Commedia.

This essay focuses on the meaning and sources of the so-called ‘Curial’s second mythological vision’: mainly two ancient commentaries on Dante’s Commedia (Benvenuto da Imola’s and the third draft of Pietro Alighieri’s) and the iconographic tradition of the Triumphus Augustini, or Allegory of Wisdom. This iconographic tradition, widely spread in Italy from the mid-fourteenth century, provides a cultural key to elucidate the link between Baccus and the Liberal Arts, the hidden meaning of the passage, its function within the whole work and the originality of its author.

This article analyzes Curial e Güelfa within the context of the poetic
language utilized by Latin elegy. In particular, the author explores two paramount
motifs in the novel: the relevance of gaze in the development of love passion and the
concept of love as fire. These two motifs were of extraordinary relevance for Latin
elegiac poets as well as in the Medieval Latin and vernacular lyric traditions. Curial’s
Anonymous author uses these two motifs in an original manner in order to illustrate one
of the main themes of Greco-Roman erotic literature: the omnipotent power of love. The
article studies the use of these two motifs in Curial as well as the possible influence of
the Decameron on the Catalan novel. Finally, the author explores the connection of
Curial with the Humanist movement.

The latest research on the Catalan chivalric novel Curial e Güelfa has highlighted unanimously the literary quality of the work and the richness of the literary culture of its author, in particular in relation to the classical and Italian writers. Among the Italians, many scholars have stressed the crucial role of Boccaccio, and in particular of the Decameron, as a literary model and as an intermediary in the classical tradition, for the anonymous Catalan author. In this work we offer a view of the presence of the novella X.8 in the Catalan text, following both narratives, and observing the fitting in the new narrative context that carries out the anonymous author of Curial. Besides, this allows us to appreciate the relationship of the chivalric novel and the Catalan translation of the Decameron of 1429.

Scholars have stressed the continuity of the topic or literary motif known as aegritudo amoris from classical antiquity through the centuries and, in particular, the development during the Middle Ages, the so-called amor hereos. The purpose of our paper will be the analysis of this motif’s treatment in the Catalan chivalric novel Curial e Güelfa. Thus,
we intend to point out the relevance of classical models in the Anonymous’ text mainly through Boccaccio’s influence.
In this contribution, we want to emphasize the literary development of aegritudo amoris motif, parallel to the medieval medical works such as Bernardus Gordonius’ Lilium Medicinae. We analyze, specifically, the motif’s treatment in some Greek and Latin texts (Valerius Maximus, Apuleius, Aethiopica), that we believe can be linked to Anonymous’
writing through the intermediation of Boccaccio, who reuses them in some novelle of Decameron.

This paper aims to deepen in the study of Greco-Roman sources of Curial e Güelfa. In particular, we will analyse the connections between the Catalan chivalric novel
and ancient Greek romances, a genre that has been rather overlooked by scholars. We suggest the analysis of novel motifs through the proven intertextual relationship with the novella of Cimone (Decameron, V.1). We defend Boccaccio’s knowledge of Greek romances and we emphasise the circulation of Ms. Laurentianus Conventi Soppressi 627 in the humanist circles of Northern Italy in the XVth century. The famous humanist and pedagogue Guarino Veronese appears as a possible nexus with the cultural environment of Catalan novel’s creation.

In the context of the reception of Classical authors in the XVth century, the analysis of a new Ovidian source is proposed for a passage of the north-African episode of the Catalan chivalric novel Curial e Güelfa. We suggest the anonymous author reuses the myth of Hermaphroditus from Ovid’s Metamorphoses and we analyse the treatment of the Ovidian hypotext and its fitting in a new narrative context. Besides, we study the possibility of using intermediate sources, such as Boccaccian Genealogia, and we offer a comparative analysis of Juan de Mena’s version of Hermaphroditus’ myth. In doing so, we aim to contextualize the Catalan novel in the cultural atmosphere of this period and, more exactly, in the reception of Ovidian texts in the Hispanic circles connected to Italian humanism. The analysis confirms the relevance of Classical authors as Ovid in the Anonymous’ writing.

Aquest treball analitza la possible presència del poeta Horaci, no estudiada fins ara pels especialistes, en la novel·la cavalleresca Curial e Güelfa. En primer lloc, s'estableixen els punts de contacte més evidents: la rellevància de les divinitats clàssiques de la poesia, Apol·lo i Bacus, amb els respectius dominis als quals estaven associats. Es revisa la transmissió dels textos clàssics mitjançant la tradició exegètica de la Commedia i s'ofereix una proposta de la interpretació del text català.
This article analyzes the possible presence of Horace, not studied so far by the specialists, in the novel Curial e Güelfa. Firstly, the most obvious points of contact are established: the relevance of the classical deities of poetry, Apol·lo and Bacchus, and the respective domains to which they were associated. The transmission of classical texts is revised through the exegetic tradition of the Commedia and finally a proposal of the Catalan author's interpretation is offered.

El objeto de estudio de mi comunicación es el París e Viana, una novela anónima de origen desconocido que fue traducida a las principales lenguas europeas durante el siglo XV. El propósito de este texto es desmentir la hipótesis de Cátedra (1986: 37-38) según la cual una de las novelas caballerescas catalanas más importantes del s. XV, el Curial e Güelfa, dependería del París e Viana a través de una comparación exhaustiva entre las dos obras.

How important can the impact of a literary trend be while an author is composing his work? What comes first: the plot or a taste for certain rhetorical resources such as letters and allegories? This contribution deals with one of the most challenging pieces of chivalresque literature written in medieval Europe: Curial e Güelfa. This Catalan work from the fifteenth century should be related with the so-called ‘sentimental romance’, a sort of fashion regarding the treatment of love in the Hispanic works produced in the second half of the century. Although this literary trend has been widely studied in the Castilian tradition, a comprehensive overview of Catalan sentimental works from this period does not exist yet. The main aims of this article are to introduce scholars to these texts and to develop a discourse about Catalan sentimental romances focused on the features that Curial e Güelfa shares with them. The purpose of its author by using materials from sentimental romances and the role of that trend as the pattern behind the composition of this particular work will be addressed. To sum up, Curial e Güelfa is the result of the combination of fantasy and emulation and it can also be studied as an example of how the writer struggles to satisfy the reader’s expectations.