Panel 6D: Adaptation and/as Transcodification/3
Session 6 – July 3, 15:30 – 17:30
Filming the Arthurian Imaginary: Rohmer’s Perceval Le Gallois
Éric Rohmer’s Perceval Le Gallois (1978) can be interpreted as a transmedial rewriting of the XIIIth century novel Le Conte du Graal, by Chrétien de Troyes, where is depicted the character of Perceval, a totally new knight. During the XXth century, the Arthurian world has often been a remarkable source of inspiration
for many artists and directors. The myths of the Round Table, especially after World War II, have been, for instance, used to develop new reflexions about politics and power. In the early Sixties, Rohmer directed a first documentary for schools, about the Perceval myth. At the end of the Seventies, the French director developed the more complex project of Perceval Le Gallois. This movie can ben considered as a real transmedial réécriture of Chrétien’s novel. Rohmer tried to preserve the original text in Ancient French, maintaining the versification and reconstructing an archaic language. Moreover, he used medieval art (especially miniatures from medieval manuscripts) and music to develop the movie’s décor. In my study about this movie, I will propose an analysis which tries to show the intersection between medieval literature, art and music in a contemporary project whose main aim seems to be filming the Middles Ages in its constitutive alterity and différance.
Bio
jessy.simonini@univ-nantes.fr
PhD candidate at the University of Nantes (France).
ENS Ulm and University of Bologna Alumnus.
Research interests : medieval novels (oil and oc); réécritures of medieval texts.
PhD dissertation title : « Atres, tombeaux, cimetières: pour une étude des pratiques mémorielles et des dispositif fictionnels dans l’espace littéraire arthurien (XII-XIII siècles).