Modes of personal presence in the romances of Chrétien de Troyes

Abstract

Modes through which human persons may be present to one another in the twenty-first century include presence through bodies, presence through email, and presence over the telephone. Analogously, this project explores four modes through which characters in several Old French romances attributed to Chrétien de Troyes are present to one another: presence through bodies, presence by proxy, presence through objects (or metonymy), and presence through language. The study of modes and mediators of personal presence in Erec et Enide, Le Chevalier de la Charrette, Le Chevalier au Lion, and Le Conte du Graal helps bring into focus various characters’ virtues and shortcomings, as well as particular limitations attached to the modes or mediators themselves.