ABSTRACT

When medieval poets began to reflect on love, it was, from the beginning, a highly complex and problematic phenomenon, mostly determined by frustration, contradictions, and a lack of fulfilment. Highlighting particularly two major texts, one in Latin, the other in Middle High German, this paper brings to light the critically important element of discourse as part of the public performance of theoretical and practical reflections of love in the Middle Ages. Since courtly love thus has to be defined as a literary medium for courtly debates about its own identity, it makes perfect sense that we hardly ever hear about actual individual satisfaction and the realisation of erotic dreams. Instead, the overarching intention by medieval poets was to problematise the issue of love and to present its paradoxes, difficulties, and conflicts through the literary performance, not to present a maudlin, sentimental story with a simple happy end. As we realise here, the debate about proper attitudes towards the other gender, the analysis of values and virtues all contribute to the realisation of the discourse itself.

摘要

当中世纪的诗人开始反思爱情时，它从一开始就是一种高度复杂和有问题的现象，主要是由挫折、矛盾和缺乏成就感决定的。本文特别强调了两部主要文本，一部是拉丁文，另一部是中古高地德语，揭示了作为中世纪爱情理论和实践反思的公开表演的一部分至关重要的话语元素。由于宫廷爱情因此必须被定义为一种关于其自身身份的宫廷辩论的文学媒介，所以我们几乎从未听说过实际的个人满足和性梦的实现是完全有道理的。相反，中世纪诗人的首要意图是对爱情问题提出问题，并提出它的悖论、困难、和通过文学表演的冲突，而不是呈现一个简单的幸福结局的伤感，感伤的故事。正如我们在这里意识到的那样，关于对异性的正确态度的辩论、对价值观和美德的分析都有助于话语本身的实现。