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Rudolph, Alexander and Urban, Alexandra (2022): Leben wie ein Salamander, Sterben wie ein Pelikan. Zur Überbietung und Überschreitung der Minnesang- Tradition mittels Tiervergleichen in Heinrichs von Mügeln Liebesliedern 4, 6 und 7 (XVI, 393–395, 399–401 und 402–404). In: Archiv für das Studium der Neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, Vol. 259, No. 2: pp. 264-284

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Abstract

In the love songs written by Heinrich von Mugeln, animal comparisons represent a central means of depicting and negotiating love. On the one hand, they are clearly embedded in the `Physiologus' tradition, whilst, on the other, they vary motifs of courtly literature, such as the use of the metaphor of the falcon. This use of comparison marks the poet's claim to poetic mastery, which manifests itself in artful rhetoric, a broad knowledge of the tradition, and the incorporation of learned knowledge. This paper argues that the body of knowledge integrated into the songs is not only an expression of the poet's erudition, but that this creation and development of animal comparisons plays a significant role in the conception of love that goes beyond the conventions of the Minnesang tradition. This is expressed, firstly, in the fact that the depiction of love and the beloved is elevated to a spiritual level through the use of animal comparisons borrowed from the 'Physiologus' tradition (Song 4), as well as by the idea of wordly love being selectively transcended (Song 6). Secondly, due to the variation of the falcon motif in Song 7, the courtly idea of triuwe, which is `naturalised' through the use of metaphors relating to nature, is surpassed and replaced by a more pragmatic understanding of faithfulness.

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