Author

Publication

1996 - Clarendon Press, Oxford, England

Language

English

Word Count

41,500 words, Guess

Page Count

166 pages

Identifiers

  • Open LibraryOL967808M
  • ISBN-100198159145
  • OCLC Control Number34046340
  • Library of Congress Control Number96004266
  • LibraryThing6375141
and 1 more
  • Goodreads2332471

Classifications

  • DDC844/.2
  • LCCPQ1590.A43 H86 1996

Description

Villon studies have traditionally emphasized the documentary and didactic value of the Testament, concentrating on problems of historical referentiality. It is assumed that the work has a significant autobiographical element and that it has much to tell us about life in fifteenth-century Paris. The Testament has thus been avidly exploited by historians of the period and its interest as a document is well-established. There have, however, been few attempts to show why the text is interesting as literature. Tony Hunt's present study concentrates exclusively on the textual strategies of the Testament, in particular on rhetorical techniques involving dialogue and irony. Villon's Last Will views the Testament as ironic from start to finish, and the main objects of the irony are identified as language and authority. The dissolution of meaning, authority, and even authorial identity are seen to be the principal results of the poet's rhetoric. Tony Hunt's close reading of the text has produced a lively and well-informed commentary, full of fresh insights.

Subjects

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