Narrative variations in the Medieval bestiaries

Abstract

In this article Medieval bestiary is considered as a narrative text in which the function of motives is performed by the actions of the animal. These narrative motives can constitute a micro-plot which is interpreted by the narrator who unfolds his understanding of events. Similarities between the micro-plots of different bestiaries cannot conceal significant narrative variability, which becomes noticeable precisely in the combination of the texts devoted to the same animal. Narrative variations in а bestiary can be divided into three types: variations in the choice of typical actions (“properties”) of the animal; variations in the interpretation of these properties; variations in the very act of narration, which are manifested primarily in the level of detail with which the author treats the events in the bestiary. The moral and religious interpretation of the properties of the animal, perceived by the modern reader as a kind of improper insertion, performed the function of narrative denouement for the medieval reader, sometimes in absolutely unexpected manner.