The chanson d'aventure (, en, song of adventure) is a genre of
medieval poetry
Poetry took numerous forms in medieval Europe, for example, lyric and epic poetry. The troubadours and the minnesänger are known for their lyric poetry about courtly love.
Among the most famous of secular poetry is ''Carmina Burana'', a manuscr ...
originating in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, but which had a substantial influence on poetry in
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
.
Structure
The ''chanson d'aventure'' (plural ''chansons d'aventure'') is essentially a framing device, where the singer (or poet) wanders into a wild or rural setting and has a chance encounter, usually in the form of a dialogue; it originates in
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a " libretto" and their writer, ...
usually with an erotic or amorous theme.
[Strohm, P. ''Middle English'', Oxford: OUP, 2007, p.227-8] Sometimes, the ''chanson'' may focus on an overheard dialogue, or lover's complaint. In either way, the chief feature is that of a chance encounter. It likely evolved from two earlier ''
chanson
A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...
'' subtypes, the ''chanson dramatique'' and the ''chanson pastourelle''.
[Davidoff, J. M. ''Beginning Well: Framing Fictions in Late Middle English Poetry'', Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1988, p.36]
Poets in
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
adopted the trope for themes other than love, often making the debate's focus a moral or devotional one. The genre shares many common features with the
dream vision
A dream vision or ''visio'' is a literary device in which a dream or vision is recounted as having revealed knowledge or a truth that is not available to the dreamer or visionary in a normal waking state. While dreams occur frequently throughout ...
, although with the important distinction that the poet does not fall asleep.
See also
*''
Chanson de geste
The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th c ...
''
*
Medieval debate poetry
Medieval debate poetry refers to a genre of poems popular in England and France during the late medieval period (although broadly the same type of debate poems existed in the ancient and medieval Near Eastern literatures, as noted below).
Essentia ...
References
{{reflist
Medieval poetry
Medieval French literature
Middle English poems