Il tema del travestimento nella Chanson de Geste Analisi di aspetti e motivi nell’epica francese dei secoli XII e XIII

Abstract

This article provides a study of the disguise theme in texts from the French epic literary tradition of twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the theme of disguise was developed through many different ways and multiple perspectives. From the option which suggests a kind of double interpretation in a particular context where it is possible to detect clear interferences with popular culture, to the confirmation of the authentic epic scheme, this analysis through the French epic chanson de geste tradition provides an overview of the main disguise features in texts such as Le Couronnement de Louis, Le Charroi de Nimes, La Prise d’Orange concerning Guillaume d’Orange and the related cycle of poems. The survey continues with Maugis d’Aigremont, and discusses the topic of the trickster, where the disguise theme is enforced by magic and fairy elements. These elements suggest a wide range of implications and meanings, such as the struggles between regal authority and vassals, inside a frame of sociological value as recognized in the Renaut de Montauban and the presence of a popular culture level through the representation of his adventures and magic features in the Maugis d’Aigremont poem.