Revision Lectures Paper IX

Week 2

Wolfram von Eschenbach: ‚Parzival‘

Henrike Lähnemann

Beginning of Book IX of Wolfram von Eschenbach‘s ‚Parzival‘ in ms D

Revision Sessions forEarly Texts in German

Wk 1: Nibelungenlied

Wk 2: Parzival

Wk 3: Osterspiele

Wk 4: Heinrich von Morungen

Wk 5: General Questions

2›Willehalm‹-Ms (Cgm 193, III, f. 1r, Quedlinburg/ Halberstadt ca. 1270–1275)

Basic Questions

• When and where? The Historical Background

• How? The Form and Its Tradition

• What? The Plot and the Structure Behind It

• Why? Key Themes and the Agenda Behind It

• For Whom? The Audience and the Reception

3

When and Where 1: Linguistic

Old High German

(500–1050)

Middle High German

(1050–1350)

Early Modern High

German (1350-1650)

• Adaptation from French Issues of Translation Courtly Vocabulary

• Self-representation of “Wolfram” as illiteratus Traces of Orality Rhetorical Figures

• Relationship to previous German literature Courtly RomanceMinnesang

5

How? Structuring Rhyming Couplets

Rhyme Marking the end of a line

Caesura Rhetorical markings for performance

6

How? Book Structure in Ms. D

Buch 9 = 433,1

434,1

Large initial = Books (Lachmann)

Small initiale = 30 structure (Lachmann)

What? The Plot / Messy Family

http://mediaewiki.org/wiki/Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen_%28Wolfram_von_Eschenbach,_Parzival%29

Titurel Line of the Keepers of the Grail

Mazadan

1) Lazaliez Kings of Anschouwe

2) Brickus Kings of the Britons

For whom? The Audience & Reception

8

Parsifal, Act III, Nur eine Waffe taugt -

Arnaldo Dell'Ira (1903-1943)

Poster for the premiere production

of Parsifal - 1882