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The Continuations of Chrétien's Perceval: Content and Construction, Extension and Ending

This monograph examines the notion of ‘continuation’ as constituting a discrete form of ‘rewriting’, a technique pervasively employed in medieval texts. Using as its lens the famously unwieldy four Continuations of Chrétien de Troyes’s unfinished story of the Grail, Perceval, this study seeks to define and distinguish the mechanics of a ‘genre of writing’ which is found extensively in medieval literature. The analysis also undertakes a theoretical examination of both material and textual ‘continuation’, examining what constitutes an ‘ending’ in literary texts, and how the ‘satisfaction’ of an ending can be measured, and, most importantly, using codicological techniques to discover how (satisfactory) endings are visually represented in manuscript form. The study develops, and contributes, a working model for the broader analysis of medieval continuatory texts, which endeavours to illuminate the medieval view of continuation as understood by scribes and audiences, as well as offering the opportunity for future scholars to broaden the framework and apply it to other forms of medieval rewriting, such as sequel and prequel. Although focused on Francophone literature, it is of great relevance to Medieval European literature more widely, and is highly congruent with our English department’s longstanding engagement with scholarly editing projects and studies in the History of the Book.