Evdokimova Liudmila

The Art of Writing and Oppositions of Style in Eustache Deschamps' s Lyrical Poems . . .

Abstract

Examining various poetic works by Eustache Deschamps (D’un beau dit de ceuls qui contreuvent nouvelles bourdes et mensonges, as well as some ballads), we come to a conclusion that he was aware of ternary and binary oppostions of styles. His familiarity with a system of the first type is evidenced by the term “restrained voice” (voix moyenne) which is used in poem D’un beau dit de ceuls qui contreuvent nouvelles bourdes et mensonges. The paper shows that this term goes back to one of liturgical books, Pontifi cale romanum by Guillaume Durand. In this case Deschamps apparently mixes up diff erent notions and applies the term used in this books to the gradation of types of declamation and styles developed in the Middle Ages within one of rhetorical traditions. In the second half of the 14th century the term the term “restrained voice” begins to be associated with the neutral style and didactic content. In other cases, Deschamps’s conception of the neutral style goes back to those medieval versions of rhetoric (artes dictaminis, artes praedicandi) where style was dependent on the situation in which communication takes place, namely the social status of speakers and their education level. Deschamps suggests that one should address people of the middle class in a “mixed manner” (maniere entremelee). This term implies the combination of higher and lower elocutionary means and topoï. Apart from the ternary gradations of style, poetic works by Deschamps refl ect the binary opposition of the high and the low styles, traditional for the literature of the 13th and the first half of the 14th century.

Keywords

binary and ternary oppositions of styles, medieval poetics in its connection to classical traditions, vox media, vox mediocris in Pontificale romanum by Guillaume Durand and Deschamps’s voix moyenne, neutral style, declamation and style, loudness o

References

1. Evdokimova L. V. 2005 “Ritorika i pojezija v «Iskusstve sochinjat'» Jestasha Deshana” (Rhetoric and Poesy in “Art of Creation” of Eustache Deschamps), in Kentavr. Studia classica et mediaevalia, 2005, vol. 2, pp. 178–190.
2. Kentavr. Studia classica et mediaevalia (Centaur. Studia classica et mediaevalia), 2010, vol. 7.
3. Andrieu M. Le Pontifical romain au Moyen Age, Citta di Vaticano, 1938.
4. Becker K. Le Lyrisme d’Eustache Deschamps. Entre poésie et pragmatism, Paris, 2012.
5. Cerquiglini-Toulet J. 2010 “Conscience de style, conscience de soi chez Christine de Pizan”, in Centaur. Studia classica et mediaevalia, 2010, vol. 7, pp. 139–150.
6. Lacassagne M. et Lassabatère T. (eds.) «Dictiez vertueulx» (Les) d’Eustache Deschamps. Forme poétique et discours engagé à la fin du Moyen Age, Paris, 2005.
7. Dragonetti R. 1961 “La poésie ... cette musique naturelle. Essai d’exégèse d’un passage de l’ Art de dictier d’Eustache Deschamps”, in Fin du Moyen Age et la Renaissance. Mélanges off erts à Robert Guiette, Anvers, 1961, pp. 49–64.
8. Connochie-Bourgne Ch. et Douchet S. Effets de style au Moyen Age, Aix-en-Provence, 2012.
9. Lacassagne M., Lassabatère T. Eustache Deschamps, témoin et modèle: littérature et société politique (XIVe–XVe siècles), Paris, 2008.
10. Sinnreich Levy D.M. (ed.) Eustache Deschamps. French Courtier-Poet: His Work and His World, New York, 1998.
11. Evdokimova L. 2005 “Ethique, économique, rhétorique. La classifi cation aristotélicienne des sciences et la poésie didactique de Deschamps”, in Lacassagne M., Lassabatère T. (eds.) Les «Dictiez vertueulx» d’Eustache Deschamps. Forme poétique et discours engagé à la fi n du Moyen Age, Paris, 2005, pp. 57–72.
12. Faral E. Les arts poétiques du XIIe et du XIIIe siècle: recherches et documents sur la technique littéraire du Moyen Age, Paris, 1924 (Genève, Paris, 1982).
13. Dietz L. Gallyn-Hallyn P., 2001 “Le style au Quattrocento et au XVIe siècle”, in Poétique de la Renaissance. Le modèle italien, le monde franco-bourguignon et leur héritage en France au XVIe siècle, Genève, 2001, pp. 532–565.
14. Documentum de arte versifi Geoff roi de Vinsauf. candi // Faral E. Les arts poétiques du XIIe et du XIIIe siècle : recherches et documents sur la technique littéraire du Moyen Age. Paris, 1924 (Genève-Paris, 1982).
15. Hicks E., Ornato E. 1977 “Jean de Montreuil et le débat du Roman de la Rose”, in Romania, 1977, vol. 98, pp. 34–64, 186–219.
16. Jean Gerson. 1996 “Traictié d’une vision faite contre Le Roman de la Rose”, in Hicks E. (ed.) Le débat sur le Roman de la Rose. Christine de Pisan, Jean Gerson, Jean de Montreuil, Gontier et Pierre Col, Genève, 1996.
17. Lacassagne M. 2010 “Eustache Deschamps, praticien du style moyen”, in Centaur. Studia classica et mediаevalia, 2010, vol. 7, pp. 151–165.
18. Lassabatère T. La Cité des Hommes: Eustache Deschamps, expression poétique et vision politique, Paris, 2011.
19. Carmody J. (ed.) Livres dou Tresor de Brunetto Latini, Los Angeles, 1948.
20. Martimort A.-G., Cabié R. L’Église en prière, vol. 1: Principes de la liturgie, Paris, 1983.
21. Martimort A.-G. Les «ordines», les ordinaires et les cérémoniaux, Turnhout, 1991.
22. Meyer P. 1880 “Traités catalans de grammaire et de poétique”, in Romania, 1880, vol. 9, pp. 51–70.
23. Gally M. (ed.) Oc, oïl, si. Les langues de la poésie. Entre grammaire et musique. Traductions et commentaires, Paris, 2010.
24. Unruh P. «Fumeur» Poetry and Music of the Chantilly Codex: a Study of its Meaning and Background. A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts, The University of British Columbia, 1983.
25. Van Dijk S. J. P. Sources of the Modern Roman Liturgy, Leiden, 1963.

Information about the author

Evdokimova Liudmila