Chapter 1 - Pagan, Christian, Secular

Summary

Medieval writing in German is characterized by a tension between religious and secular elements from the very beginnings of writing in the vernacular. The chapter therefore challenges conventional views of medieval German literature and its relationship with religion and argues for a complex, often self-aware negotiation of differences between secular and religious points of view. Gender plays a significant role in these negotiations from the beginning, because religious women writing in Latin as well as the vernacular explore new modes of articulating a relationship with God in literary texts. In setting out the complex and manifold ways in which medieval poets across the centuries explore the position of the human against transcendental forces, the chapter thus questions the common master-narrative which sees the Reformation as a radical break with earlier practices, arguing instead for a literary culture in which formation and re-formation of the self are negotiated in multiple ways.