Emotions, History and Presence in Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie

Sunderland, Luke

doi:10.1093/fmls/cqy041

Emotions, History and Presence in Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie

Sunderland, Luke

Authors

Professor Luke Sunderland luke.sunderland@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie is notable for its long descriptions of buildings and objects and for its focus on the emotions of characters. Drawing on historiographical work by Eelco Runia and Frank Ankersmit, amongst others, this article argues that the Roman de Troie represents a mode of history privileging a material and affective relationship to the past via engagement of the senses. Rather than representing the past as having a particular meaning for the present, the Troie transcends the difference between literature and history, encouraging sensory openness to history whereby the audience might be moved by the past and drawn into shared emotional vulnerability with the protagonists. The Troie makes the past present, conjuring it into being to allow for a sublime, traumatic experience of the past.

Citation

Sunderland, L. (2018). Emotions, History and Presence in Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie. Forum for Modern Language Studies, 54(4), 443-464. https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqy041

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jun 13, 2018
Online Publication Date	Jul 27, 2018
Publication Date	Oct 1, 2018
Deposit Date	Sep 24, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Jul 27, 2020
Journal	Forum for Modern Language Studies
Print ISSN	0015-8518
Electronic ISSN	1471-6860
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	54
Issue	4
Pages	443-464
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqy041

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Copyright Statement
Revised version This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Forum for Modern Language Studies following peer review. The version of record Sunderland, Luke (2018). Emotions, History and Presence in Benoît de Sainte-Maure’s Roman de Troie. Forum for Modern Language Studies 54(4): 443-464 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqy041.