Les devinettes des Adevineaux amoureux: hypothèses généalogiques et stratégies editoriales

Abstract

This article studies from a philological point of view the textual tradition of the riddles of the Adevineaux amoureux, a collection of verbal games published in Bruges by Colard Mansion in the last decades of the fifteenth century. The investigation provides two results. On the one hand, it is possible to retrace the genealogy of the witnesses of the Adevineaux (two printed editions and the manuscript Torino, BNU, L V 1) and to describe their relations with two comparable collections of riddles (Chantilly, Mus. Condé, 654; Wolfenbüttel, HAB, Cod. Guelf. 84.7 Aug. 2°). On the other hand, some hypotheses can be formulated on the strategies employed by the compiler of the Adevineaux to adapt these popular texts to the expectations of the public. Macro-structural interventions—such as the introduction of prologues—and micro-structural ones—such as repetitions, lexical substitutions, and omissions—aim at building a new socio-narrative architecture in which the aggressive dynamics of oral performances are replaced by the search for a textual coherence intended to ensure the active participation of the readers in the construction of meaning.