Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde - Volume 138, Issue 3, 2022

While it is well known that the lyrical poetry of the Middle Dutch mystical author Hadewijch (c. 1240) is rich in courtly and religious intertext, references to the allegorical textual tradition have long been overlooked. These references become apparent when the poems are read, not just poetically but also from a narratological perspective, with a special eye to point of view, characters and storyline. Such a combined analysis reveals the presence of several peripheral characters, amongst which personified virtues, playing their part in the mystical love story between the two protagonists, the human soul and divine love. This article offers a detailed analysis of the closing stanza of Song 9 which stages a parading rider unexpectedly being thrown off his horse. The analysis shows that this trope is inspired by the representation of superbia (pride) in Prudentian allegory, and will, for the intended audience, have evoked an extra layer of meaning that remains implicit in the song. The article thus illustrates that a good understanding of the multiple-layered intertext of Hadewijch’s lyrical register provides a hermeneutical key of utmost importance, while also providing a deeper insight into the mystagogic functioning of the songs.

Mock epics are a burlesque genre that was mainly popular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A distinguishing feature is that the elevated style of the classical epic poem is adapted to a commonplace subject or character (or vice versa). Although still practised in the eighteenth century, the genre has never been researched for the Dutch language area before. This may be due to the fact that the labels differ considerably, but also because form and content vary widely from that of the epic, from which they were originally derived. Whereas some mock epics describe the reputed heroic feats of a protagonist, in others the main character remains in the background or is even altogether absent. In one or two cases, the poem is actually written in prose. Jean Guépin’s previously unpublished Vlissingsche Kermis (Vlissingen Fair) of 1765 demonstrates that the genre characteristics were not always clear cut even to contemporaries.