French Literature Reviews - 2026
Alain Corbellari, Je m'en vais... Le geste de l'adieu dans la poésie médiévale
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
The gesture of farewell is a recurring motif in medieval poetry. Yet, it had never been the subject of a comprehensive study dedicated to this period. This focus is by no means arbitrary: shaped by the Christian belief that our true home is not of this world, the medieval millennium approached farewell quite differently from Antiquity or the modern era. Reviving the Greco-Roman notion that exile is worse than death, the modern period once again linked farewell to regret, and subsequently to its corollary—that newly emerged emotion, nostalgia. In the Middle Ages, by contrast, departures were most often undertaken with no hope of return. This book sets out to explore the various iterations of this theme, tracing it from Venantius Fortunatus to Villon, via the troubadours, the authors of the Congés d’Arras, Eustache Deschamps, and numerous other French and Latin poets. In doing so, it reveals the profound fertility of a gesture that inspired some of the most striking lyrical moments of medieval literature.
Read the book's introduction on Fabula...
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Table of Contents
Introduction
CHAPTER I. Riding Away (Venantius Fortunatus)
CHAPTER II. Beyond Song (The Troubadours)
CHAPTER III. The Mirage of the Holy Land (Crusade Songs)
CHAPTER IV. Epic Monasticism (Chansons de Geste)
CHAPTER V. Song and Death (Hélinant de Froidmont)
CHAPTER VI. Eternal Returns (The Prose Tristan)
CHAPTER VII. The Trial of Leprosy (Jean Bodel and Baude Fastoul)
CHAPTER VIII. Rutebeuf in Motion
CHAPTER IX. Paris, Here We Come! (Adam de la Halle)
CHAPTER X. The Impossible Return (Dante and Petrarch)
CHAPTER XI. The Indian Summer of Lyricism (Oton de Grandson)
CHAPTER XII. Farewell to the Lady (Alain Chartier)
CHAPTER XIII. Leaving the City (Eustache Deschamps)
CHAPTER XIV. Entering into Writing (Jacques de Bugnin)
CHAPTER XV. Going to the Devil (Villon)
OUTLOOK
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX NOMINUM
The motif of parting occupies a place in medieval poetry, reflecting a cultural and spiritual landscape. Unlike classical antiquity or later modern periods, which frequently associated separation with exile, regret, and nostalgia, the medieval millennium was shaped by Christian perspectives on earthly transience and the hereafter. Within this intellectual and imaginative climate, departures were often understood through a framework where returning was neither expected nor possible.
This volume traces the evolution of the farewell theme across an array of texts, including troubadour lyrics, crusade songs, chansons de geste, and the works of individual poets such as Rutebeuf, Eustache Deschamps, and François Villon. By charting these diverse expressions, the study highlights how a single recurring gesture informed some of the most memorable lyrical moments in medieval literature. Readers interested in medieval lyric poetry and thematic criticism may find this investigation relevant to their studies of the period.