For H. R. Jauss, "the dividing line between oral tradition and written tradition runs... through the texts [of the Roman de Renart] that have been preserved for us; the former maintain the form, conditioned by recitation, of a poetry of oral performance, while the latter have come down to us as pure written composition, or were conceived from the outset as literature for reading." We can see this in the case of branch 18 (branch 16 of the Martin, ed. edition), which has a bad reputation, and it is true that it seems mediocre and unoriginal, and that the first contact is disappointing. But this is perhaps what makes it interesting, because it is a typical branch whose author, lacking genius or talent, has not attenuated the popular and quasi-oral character, and who takes up the structures, characters, motifs, and formulas of the preceding branches with an obvious taste for excess and exaggeration. - [Author]

Language: French

DOI: 10.3406/ccmed.1979.2119