Publisher's Synopsis
Why do Froissart's "Chroniques" still find enthusiastic readers 600 years after they were written? In this reading Peter Ainsworth argues that their strength lies in their textual richness and complexity.;A chronicle of international chivairy that pretends to the title of history, it is in fact neither history nor romance, though it partakes a little of both. Rather it is a variegated narrative of vast proportions, marked by numerous shifts of perspective and narrative techniques. It veers from the historical to the outrageously fictional, from the journalistic travelogue to the moral tale, from self effacement in the service of impartiality to unashamed self-celebration.;In exploring the literary qualities of the "chroniques" this study gives particular consideration to the range of responses invited from the reader, the relative openness, ambivalence, or predictability of the text and to the relationship between narrative and ideology.;The book leads up to, and concludes with, an examination of the value and status of Froissart's final redaction of book I (almost certainly his last compilation), in the context of the whole work as it developed over some 40-50 years of literary and historical activity.
