Description: The corpus of Palaiologan romances consists of about a dozen works of imaginative fiction from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries which narrate the trials and tribulations of aristocratic young lovers. This volume brings together leading scholars of Byzantine literature to examine the corpus afresh and aims to be the definitive work on the subject, suitable for scholars and students of all levels. It offers interdisciplinary and transnational approaches which demonstrate the aesthetic and cultural value of these works in their own right and their centrality to the medieval and early modern Greek, European and Mediterranean literary traditions. From a historical perspective, the volume also emphasizes how the romances represent a turning point in the history of Greek letters: they are a repository of both ancient and medieval oral poetic and novelistic traditions and yet are often considered the earliest works of Modern Greek literature.
Brief description: Ingela Nilsson is Professor of Greek and Byzantine Studies at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her research interests concern all forms of narration and literary adaptation, and the tension that such procedures create between tradition and innovation. Such perspectives are at the centre of her recent monograph Raconter Byzance: La Littérature Au XIIe Siècle (2014).
Review Quotes: 'The volume offers a remarkable plurality of learned and sharp views and opinions on the Byzantine romances that should be taken into consideration by anyone working on medieval fiction, storytelling, and translation (in any language).' Foteini Spingou, Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies