Mediaevalia

Volume 25, Issue 2, 2004

An Old French Romance and its Adaptations

Le Miel et l'Amertume
Partonopeus de Blois et l'Art du Roman

This paper focuses on the prologue of the Old French Partonopeus de Blois. The author analyses the narrator's style of writing and argues that he puts the receivers at the very centre of the experience, relying on them to analyse the material with his subtle help. The author argues that it is therefore not the intrinsic nature — good or bad — of the story which is important, but what the receivers may gain from it. Via a series of reworkings, the creator of Partonopeus orients the reception of the story and establishes his narrative style by an innovative use of literary tradition.