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Romances (Genre/Form Term)

Preferred form: Romances
Used for/see from:
  • Chivalric romances
  • Courtly romances
  • Medieval romances
  • Romans courtois
See also:

The new Oxford companion to literature in French, via Oxford reference online, Nov. 8, 2012 (romance: Term used in English-language criticism of French literature for the roman courtois, or courtly romance, a narrative genre that flourished in the 12th and 13th c., first in verse and then in prose, and continued in various transformations throughout the Middle Ages; as contrasted with the epic, or chanson de geste, romance focused on the inner dilemma or quest of an individual knight, highlighted sentimental and chivalric education and the conflict of knightly duty with private desire)

Kennedy, X.J. The Longman dictionary of literary terms, c2006 (Romance. In broad terms, romance is a narrative that employs exotic adventure and lofty emotion rather than realistic depiction of character and action. In the romance people, ideas, and events are depicted in fanciful, idealized ways--heroes are very brave, villains are very villainous, beliefs and feelings are all-powerful--and plots incorporate mysterious figures and extraordinary forces. Romance originated in medieval tales in both prose and verse such as those based on Arthurian legends, stories that presented chivalric tales of kings, knights, ladies, and the passions that overcome them. Love (both licit and illicit) is the central motivation, and how characters respond to it is the central conflict; medieval romances)

Baldick, C. The Oxford dictionary of literary terms, 2008: romance (A fictional story in verse or prose that relates improbable adventures of idealized characters in some remote or enchanted setting; or, more generally, a tendency in fiction opposite to that of realism. The term now embraces many forms of fiction from the Gothic novel and the popular escapist love story (also known popularly as romances) to the 'scientific romances' of H.G. Wells, but it usually refers to the tales of King Arthur's knights written in the late Middle Ages by Chrétien de Troyes (in verse), Sir Thomas Malory (in prose), and many others (see Arthurian literature, chivalric romance). Medieval romance is distinguished from epic by its concentration on courtly love rather than warlike heroism.) chivalric romance (The principal kind of romance found in medieval Europe from the 12 century onwards, describing (usually in verse) the adventures of legendary knights, and celebrating an idealized code of civilized behaviour that combines loyalty, honour, and courtly love. The emphasis on heterosexual love and courtly manners distinguishes it from the chanson de geste and other kinds of epic, in which masculine military heroism predominates.)

GSAFD, 2000 (Romances. Use for medieval tales, which embody the life and adventures of a hero of chivalry. For contemporary novels, use Love stories or Romantic suspense fiction. NT Arthurian romances. RT Epic poetry; Fables; Legends)

Medieval chivalric tales written in prose or poetry that depict an idealized code of civilized behavior that combines loyalty, honor, and courtly love. For fiction that primarily depicts romantic love see Romance fiction.

Note under Romance fiction

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