Abstract
AbstractThe meaning of ›folly‹ in Sebastian Brant’s ›Ship of Fools‹ has been keenly and prominently debated by scholarship. Undoubtedly, Brant’s conception of folly integrates various semantic layers. Yet one, the Cockaigne layer, has been largely neglected. In his depiction of the fictional space of Narragonia, Brant draws on various Cockaigne motives, which emanate from a centuries-old, predominantly oral literary tradition. Developing these motives in his own poetic manner, Brant initiates the German Cockaigne literature of the 16th and 17th century. An analysis of the Cockaigne layer sheds new light on Brant’s conception of folly and reveals the partial synonymy of Narragonia and Cockaigne.
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