French Literature: Case Study Analysis

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ABSTRACT

Twelfth-century epics and romances knew only six or seven basic colors, including white, red, blue, yellow, green, black, and/or brown. On the other hand, twelfth- and thirteenth-century treatises, such as De complexionibus by Burgundio of Pisa, Liber physiognomie by Michael Scot, and De proprietatibus rerum by Bartholomaeus Anglicus, used complexion and the color of certain parts of the body (hair or nails) as a diagnostic of illness. Seriously injured in battle, King Marsile regains consciousness only in his vaulted chamber, with its many colours depicted on the walls ('plusurs culurs i ad peinz e escrites'). Twelfth-century epics and romances, however, knew only six or seven basic colours: white, red, blue, yellow, green, black, and/or brown. Sometimes, the word color itself was used to describe complexion. Red cheeks are usually described as colore, without any mention of a specific colour. Soredamors, whose name derives from that of the colour gold, when learning that her beloved Alexander has allegedly been killed in battle, loses her senses and color. Changing or losing color as a sign of approaching syncope or death is a cliche in both epics and romances. Color-less is pale, and sometimes the absence of colour, so strongly signalled by the verb descolorer, may be the result of rage. This research discusses the various perceptions of colors in the twelfth-century French literature.

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the Study2

Importance of the Study4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW6

French Literature6

French Literature: William Jeffs12

French Booksellers in Victorian London14

William Jeffs as Bookseller20

William Jeffs as Publisher26

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY32

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS34

Negritude and Literary Criticism: The History and Theory of "Negro-African" Literature in French42

Aesthetics: French Literature, 1867-200048

The Song of the Migrating Bird52

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION57

REFERENCES60

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The colour of the face was at the centre of contemporary medical theories. Twelfth- and thirteenth-century treatises, such as De complexionibus by Burgundio of Pisa, Liber physiognomie by Michael Scot, and De proprielatibus rerum by Bartholomaeus Anglicus, used complexion and the colour of certain parts of the body (hair or nails) as a diagnostic of illness. Green and blue signalled the alteration of bodily fluids, while a pale face indicated strong emotions or exhaustion, and the need to concentrate the interior heat of the body and to bring back colours (especially the red colour) to the cheeks. The colour of urine was regularly used as a diagnostic tool, a practice also attested in contemporary literature (Randall, 1985).

Latin terminology for colours was dominated in the 1100s by words derived from lexical variations of the vocabulary of ...