CRITICISM

Akehurst, F. R. P., and Judith M. Davis, eds. A Handbook of the Troubadours. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995, 502 p.

Includes sections on versification, music, the vidas and razos, origins and diffusion, and imagery and vocabulary.

Alfonsi, Sandra Resnick. Masculine Submission in Troubadour Lyric. New York: Peter Lang, 1986, 455 p.

Examines the theme of masculine submission in some one thousand troubadour poems; includes a study of the vocabulary of submission.

Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn. “Na Castelloza, Trobairitz, and Troubadour Lyric.” Romance Notes 25, no. 3 (spring 1985): 239-53.

Examines Na Castelloza's songs, which Bruckner finds are characterized by a “troubled self-awareness.”

Chambers, Frank M. “Three Troubadour Poems with Historical Overtones.” Speculum 54, no. 1 (January 1979): 42-54.

Examines three troubadour poems that have not previously been edited.

———. “Some Deviations from Rhyme Patterns in Troubadour Verse.” Modern Philology 80 (May 1983): 343-55.

Analyzes several troubadour lyrics that exhibit the metrical anomaly of masculine and feminine endings occurring in successive stanzas.

Chaytor, H. J. The Troubadours. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1912, 151 p.

Includes chapters on the theory and technique of troubadour poetry and on Troubadours in Italy and Spain.

Cheyette, Fredric L. Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2001, 474 p.

Explains the political implications inherent in a pledge of love in troubadour poetry.

Cholakian, Rouben C. The Troubadour Lyric: A Psychocritical Reading. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester University Press, 1990, 208 p.

Argues that troubadour culture feared and excluded women.

Fleming, Arnold. The Troubadours of Provence. Glasgow, Scotland: William Maclellan, 1952, 150 p.

Includes chapters on themes, style, structure, and the ascendancy of vernacular language over Latin in troubadour poetry.

Gaunt, Simon. “Poetry of Exclusion: A Feminist Reading of Some Troubadour Lyrics.” The Modern Language Review 85, no. 2 (April 1990): 310-29.

Attempts to expose patriarchal structures within the troubadours' texts.

Jensen, Frede. “Philological Comments on the Poetry of the Earliest Troubadour.” Romance Philology 38, no. 4 (May 1985): 436-62.

Offers commentary on Guilhem IX's work based on study of all extant manuscripts and major editions.

Kay, Sarah. Subjectivity in Troubadour Poetry. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1990, 265 p.

Includes sections on indeterminacy of meaning, allegory, and significance of gender in troubadour lyrics.

Newcombe, Terence. “The Refrain in Troubadour Lyric Poetry.” Nottingham Mediaeval Studies 19 (1975): 3-15.

Surveys the utilization of refrains in troubadour poetry.

Paterson, Linda M. Troubadours and Eloquence. London: Oxford University Press, 1975, 241 p.

Studies five major troubadours to determine their methods of composition.

———. The World of the Troubadours: Medieval Occitan Society, c. 1100-c. 1300. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1993, 367 p.

Examines Occitan society, with chapters devoted to feudalism, knights, peasants, towns, doctors, children, and clergy.

Sigal, Gale. “The Pit or the Pedestal? The Dichotomization of the Lady in Troubadour Lyric.” Romanic Review 84, no. 2 (March 1993): 109-42.

Discusses the attempts of troubadours to reconcile the ideal lady with the real woman.

Spence, Sarah. “The Topos of Discretion in Troubadour Poetry.” Romanische Forschungen 112, no. 2 (2000): 180-91.

Examines the importance of verbal discretion, or “muting,” in troubadour poetry.

Steel, Matthew C. “A Case for the Predominance of Melody over Text in Troubadour Lyric: Bernart de Ventadorn's ‘Can vei la lauzeta mover.’” Michigan Academician 14, no. 3 (winter 1982): 259-71.

Calls for a different approach to the study of troubadour repertory, with an emphasis on an individual work's own logic and integrity.

Van Vleck, Amelia E. “Writing and Memory in the Creation and Transmission of Troubadour Poetry.” In Memory and Re-Creation in Troubadour Lyric, pp. 26–55. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.

Discusses the transmission of troubadour songs, noting that their text was not fixed, but rather continually changing as they were “sent” from individual to individual.

Wilhelm, James J. “The Troubadours and Modern Song.” In Seven Troubadours: The Creators of Modern Verse, pp. 197-204. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1970.

Contends that the influence of the troubadours is readily apparent in the popular music of the twentieth century.