Vernacular and Latin Literary Discourses of the Muslim Other in Medieval Germany

JEROLD C. FRAKES Professor of English at SUNY Buffalo, USA. He is the author, editor, or translator of over ten books, including The Cultural Study of Yiddish in Early Modern Europe.

• Ludus as Prelude Discourses of the Muslim Other Muslims in Hrotsvit's 'Pelagius' and the Ludus de Antichristo Mandatory Muslim Metamorphosis in Crusader Epic Wolfram von Eschenbach, Gyburc, and Tolerance  Walther von der Vogelweide, Crusader Lyric and the Discourse of the Other  A Twelfth-Century Paradigm Shift?

"Frakes is to be congratulated on this wide-ranging, timely and insightful study of the discourse of the Muslim Other in Middle High German and Latin works of the Holy Roman Empire. Working in the mode of Wiethaus and Ebenbauer, Frakes marshals compelling evidence against those who would depict the twelfth century as a time of growing tolerance and cosmopolitanism towards non-Christian cultures. In joining a scholarly debate largely marked by medievalists talking past one another, Frakes study distinguishes itself by his willingness to meet difficult counter-arguments head-on. By subjecting the conventional wisdom of both sides to penetrating analysis, he not only challenges our understanding of Wolfram von Eschenbach, but also forces us to reflect upon the degree to which modern critical assumptions shape even the findings of medievalists claiming to study literature in its historical context. This metacritical aspect broadens the appeal of Frakes book to include not only scholars working with Middle High German classics, but also anyone interested in post-colonial theory, medieval Islamic studies, and theories of monstrosity." - David F. Tinsley, Distinguished Professor of German, University of Puget Sound