Jacob Van Maerlant's 'Der Naturen Bloeme' as encyclopaedic narrative

During the past decade various studies have been conducted on the medieval bestiary and simultaneously much has been written on the life and work of the medieval scholar and writer, Jacob van Maerlant. Van Maerlant's famous encyclopedic work, Der Naturen Bloeme (Book of Nature) has been thoroughly investigated in recent literary studies, though little has been done to identify this work as encyclopaedic narrative. The term, encyclopaedic narrative, is relatively unknown in Western literature and therefore demands the research which is conducted in this thesis. In the course of this study, the genre of encyclopedic narrative is investigated and the Naturen Bloeme is identified as a member of this exclusive genre. Edward Mendelson's article 'From Dante to Pynchon' (1976) serves as the starting point for this study, from where it continues its investigation into the works of Jacob Van Maerlant. Van Maerlant's Der Naturen Bloeme is compared to a unique set of qualities for the encyclopaedic narrative in which corresponding points are identified. From this investigation it is shown that Der Naturen Bloeme qualifies as a member of the genre, encyclopaedic narrative. - [Abstract]

MA dissertation at the Universiteit van Suid-Afrika. Summary in Afrikaans and English. 81 p., bibliography.

Language: Afrikaans

DDC: 839.3111; OCLC: 52782550