Away from Self-Authorship: Multiplying the "Author" in Jean de Meun's "Roman de la Rose"

Abstract

question is notoriously difficult. The contemporary notion of author as originator and sole authority of a written work does not apply to medieval literature.' Rooted in oral tradition, medieval textual authorship was usually at once anonymous and multiple.2 As Paul Zumthor described in his analysis of the mouvance phenomenon, textual adjustments made with each edition of a medieval text (be it manuscript or print) obscured authorial (original) intent.3 Above all, the Old French term, au(c) tor, referred primarily to Latin authors, such as Ovid and Virgil, who were recognized as embodying authority (auctoritas).4 Until Christine de Pizan, however, Old French writers stressed the auctoritas of the ancients, thereby eschewing their own responsibilities.5 Jean de Meun is no exception. While his Roman de la Rose clearly indicates the figure named Jehan as an actor (or doer), Clopinel is not presented as an au(c) tor.6 Moreover, the first-person