Proefschrift-Utrecht. / Also appeared as Nederlandsche bijdragen op het gebild van germaansche philologie en linguistick, v. 8.

Diss.--Zürich.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Supervisors: Marjorie Woods and Andrew Zissos. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available from UMI.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 498-549). Also includes an electronic version.

Integrating chivalric romance narrative with complicated instances of pre-modern exchange, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reveals the binding power of pledging one?s trawþe and the transformative power of exchanged objects in a gift economy. By reading the Exchange of Blows and the Exchange of Winnings according to the social demands of a gift economy and of a pledged trawþe, this thesis delineates the nature of Gawain?s failure to keep his word to his host. I offer my analysis of gift theory to suggest how the poem reveals the tensions between chivalric pledges of loyalty and nascent capitalist exchanges. R. A. Shoaf demonstrates the presence in the text of an emerging commercial economy, claiming the poem ?involves the transformation of Gawain?into a consumer and?into a merchant? (3-4). While Gawain behaves as a nascent capitalist, as evident by his passive reception of the exchanged items and his lack of generosity, the other residents of Hautdesert do not. The workings of gift exchange were first postulated by social anthropologists: Marcel Mauss focused on reciprocity, while Branislaw Malinowski, and later, Annette Weiner, argued that gift exchanges operate in a circular system, with repayment not necessarily directed toward the original donor. The exchanges between Bertilak and Gawain show elements of the requisite reciprocity of Mauss? formulation, yet the presence of Morgan le Fey and Lady Bertilak complicates the exchanges and suggests an economy of circularity. While Geraldine Heng and Sheila Fischer have argued that the women of the text exhibit agency?Morgan initiates the Exchange of Blows and Lady Bertilak gives kisses and the girdle?this project argues that it is the performative presence of the trawþe between Gawain and Bertilak that creates a male bond, ultimately denying the women authority. The trawþe circumscribes Morgan?s control and allows for the exchange of Lady Bertilak as an object. Richard Firth Green addresses the late medieval tensions in the semantic definitions of ?truth,? arguing that ?in an oral society the precise words of the oath?bind the speaker and listener by virtue of an inherent performative power? (60). While Gawain functions as a self-interested capitalist, keeping the girdle for its value to save his life, the chivalric trawþe ensures that failure to adhere to the terms of the agreement results not only in contractual liability but knightly disgrace. Gawain?s failure to reciprocate the gift leads to his dishonor, for the medieval gift that is not reciprocated ?would make the recipient dependent on the donor,? endangering ?his honour, freedom and even his life? (Gurevich 180). In medieval gift systems the values of exchanged objects are determined not only by their function within a competitive game about prestige and power, but also by their identification with the donors themselves. Annette Weiner?s articulation of the inalienability of certain objects?the possibility that some objects are ?kept? despite apparent exchange?is useful in explaining the significance of the girdle in Gawain?s failure. Weiner explains that what ?makes a possession inalienable is its exclusive and cumulative identity with a particular series of owners through time? (Weiner 33). The girdle presents just such an inalienable possession; Bertilak ?keeps? the girdle despite Gawain?s physical possession of it. Gawain remains indebted to his adversary, and although he is released from his trawþe, he will continue to wear the girdle as a sign of his failure and the bond with the Green Knight. Ultimately, the court of Camelot assumes the sign of the green girdle, a subtle warning by the Gawain-poet of the inevitable spread of un-trawþe in prioritizing the values of self-interested capitalist exchange.

This essay discusses the aspects of Carnival in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the opposition between ordinary official life and the Carnival. Peter Burke’s and Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories on the Carnival are used throughout the analyse of the poem mainly with focus on four different aspects; food, sex, violence and games. The essay also discusses the questioning of rank, which was central to the spirit of the Carnival where all were considered equal.  Gawain is the protagonist who throughout the poem manages to resist the spirit of the Carnival despite being challenged by three different antagonists who in their on ways symbolise the Carnival; the Green knight with aggressive and mocking speech, the Lady of the Castle who acts as the seducer and Lord Bertilak who in his three hunts shows that he embraces the spirit of the Carnival.

This thesis aims to analyze the notions of sin and repentance of Lancelot and Gawain in Malory¡¦s Morte Darthur so as to unveil what Malory¡¦s ideal knight is to be like. While the traditional view takes Lancelot as a perfect knight and Gawain a reckless one because of their different dispositions, I approach these two characters from their breach of the chivalric code and their sequential penitence. Chapter I and Chapter II will study respectively how Lancelot and Gawain sin in the world of chivalry because of their wrongdoings. Although these two knights have both sinned, yet, in Malory¡¦s hands, these two knights are portrayed in divergent degrees with obviously contrastive narrative context and their repentance takes a different hue as well. Chapter III examines the repentance of Lancelot and Gawain and takes note that although both knights repent for their sins, forgiveness is granted to the former exclusively whereas the latter is denied such a treatment. Chapter IV concludes that such difference or prejudice is indicative of Malory¡¦s evaluation of Lancelot and Gawain in accordance with how the two knights handle their misdeeds and this implies the author¡¦s conception of what a perfect knight should be. Of particular interest is that Chapters I through IV trace the traditional theological view by looking at St. Thomas Aquinas¡¦ concept of sin and repentance. Aquinas¡¦ doctrinal view allows us to analyze Lancelot and Gawain¡¦s sin and repentance within a chivalric as well as theological domain and provides us a better base with which to understand these two concepts. This research strives to bring about a different perspective in evaluating Malory¡¦s knights.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 283-319).

Zugl.: Diss.