Naming and Namelessness in Medieval Romance

Naming and namelessness are among the major themes of medieval romance. Because the genre is so difficult to define, scholars have viewed romance as containing a critical number of themes; this book treats naming as a major theme of romance, and furthermore examines romance's relationship with contemporary naming-theory. A new genre, it is able to play with naming in a way that previously established genres are not. The book begins with a discussion of the medieval background to romance, and explores a series of naming-patterns found across a broad range of texts. It continues with detailed analysis of twenty-one romances [in English, French, and Anglo-Norman, from 1130 to 1500], to show how naming-themes are treated differently in each, and to demonstrate the importance of name as a generic marker. Finally, an appendix provides details of each romance's context, together with indications for further research. JANE BLISS is an independent scholar; she gained her PhD from Oxford Brookes University.