Object structure
Title:

Parallel fitt-endings in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A case of medieval paratextuality

Group publication title:

Token

Creator:

Kowalik, Barbara Janina

Keywords:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ; alliterative romance ; courtly entertainment ; fit ; closure ; parallelism ; paratext

Abstract:

This paper examines the endings of the so-called fitts in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. For the first time in the criticism of this renowned fourteenth-century alliterative romance of the Matter of Britain attention is called to a remarkable number of lexical and thematic features shared by the concluding sections of the poem’s four compositional divisions. It is argued that the parallel fitt-endings serve to underline the units of Gawain as an orally delivered Arthurian narrative of the kind that was used as a form of entertainment at medieval round tables and generally at court. The rationale behind the parallel fittendings is discussed in terms of paratextuality, with emphasis on such typical paratextual effects as pointing to the genre and the mode of the text in question. Paratexts peculiar to medieval literature and to Middle English alliterative romance are pointed out.

Place of publishing:

Kielce

Physical description:

S. 221-238

ISSN:

2299-5900

Publisher:

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach

Date issued:

2022

Identifier:

doi:10.25951/4897

Language:

angielski

Is part of:

Token : A Journal of English Linguistics

Has part:

Vol. 14/2022

Type:

tekst

Format:

application/pdf

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