The “other world” image specific in the French chivalric romance of the 12th – 13th centuries

Abstract

On the material of the novels by Chretien de Troyes (“Cliges”, “Perceval”), the anonymous “Floir and Blanchetflore” and “The Beautiful Stranger” by René de Beaujeu the article examines the basic parameters of marking, the specific features and the semantic load of the otherworldliness in the French chivalric romance at the early stages of its development. The undertaken analysis reveals both mythological and fairy tale markers (crossing the water border, defeating the guard of the reservoir, signs of death, barren land, playing chess) and new ones (imaginary death of the hero or heroine). The article shows how the opposition of two different other worlds in one novel serves to depict the formation and selfidentification of the knight in his two roles – a warrior and a lover, as well as to depict the complex relationship between these roles, the limits of duty and freedom of the hero, the problems of combining courtly love and love sensual, as well as love for and pursuit of wanderings and adventures. It is noted that the portrayal of the other world in the novels is subjected to the author’s creative revision.