In premodern narratives contradictions are omnipresent – conflicting concepts, logical inconsistencies, acts of objection. In a narratological perspective ›contradiction‹ – conflicts of incompatible knowledges and narrative patterns; inconsistencies in or between speech (by narrator or characters) and action; contradictory or inconsistent information and motivation – is apt to subvert, complicate, or enrich the textual production of meaning. The project ›Contradiction as a Narrative Principle in Premodern Narrative‹ (University of Bremen) explores different types of contradictions in medieval epic and romance.
The constitution of characters in Middle High German heroic epics is transtextual and transpersonal, yet specific to certain texts or characters. Characters can be formed by an aggregation of the recipients' knowledge on narrative tradition or by a reduction to stereotypes. The anthropological ›rules‹ of heroic epics -collective feudal norms, transpersonal coding of emotions, the principles of heroism -are of only limited validity. Interpolations by recipients regarding the motivation of characters can be manipulated or rejected by the texts. Heterogeneity, traditionality, partially even alterity of the characters are exhibited; consistency is not necessarily intended.
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