On the Literary Practice of Continuation. Composition and Meaning in the 'Roman van Walewein'

Abstract

This thesis aims to study the literary practice of continuation within medieval works through an in-depth analysis of the Roman van Walewein, a 13th-century Middle Dutch Arthurian romance. Continuation works are essentially different from separate narratives or sequels and should be studied and interpreted with this in mind. Continuation works are unique in the sense that their entire narrative structure, composition and content are the creation of two separate authors. When studying continuation works one must take into account that the work itself is a representation of two different compositions and that part of the reception and inherent quality of the work lies in this (aspect of) duality. My approach is characterized both by applying findings from both modern and medieval literary theory, as well as psychological studies on reading and narrative comprehension to study the composition of medieval works, and by comparing continuation works from different language traditions with each other. As such, this thesis offers not only new insights in the 'Roman van Walewein' specifically and the medieval continuation tradition as found in Arthurian romances, but also new ways to study continuation works in general.