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Article: Ritual in branch XVII of the Roman de Renart (Mort et Procession Renart): A key to a carnivalesque reading of the texts?
- Article from:
- The Modern Language Review
- Article date:
- October 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Modern Humanities Research Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A succession of rituals structures Branch XVII of the Roman de Renart, (1) which narrates the death and burial of the fox, Renart. In addition to the religious rituals of confession, eulogy, sermon, and solemn procession that mark the funeral rites for the fox and the committal of his body to the earth, rituals of justice and, most important, rituals of play also feature in this branch. Special significance may be accorded to these ludic rituals because they may furnish the modern reader with a critical apparatus for approaching a reading of the Roman de Renart as a whole. This bold attribution of such importance to just one of the twenty-six branches of this text written ...