Merle Marie Schütte

History Department

curriculum vitae:

Ph.D. Project

Rank in the context of medieval speech acts. Its manifestation, differentiation and development in historiographical and literary evidence from the 12th and 13th centuries (working title)

Rank and ranking, observing and respecting them, played a central role for medieval people, who moved in a hierarchically structured and legitimised social structure all their life.  This fact is also taken into account by historical research, which has more recently and to an increasing degree addressed the symbolic organisation of rank. The publications resulting from this– despite diverging approaches and focuses – usually have one thing in common: They emphasise the importance of and, consequentially, focus their presentation on nonverbal communication. The question for the way in which rank manifests itself in verbal expression, in direct speech, however, has so far been largely neglected.

Therefore, it is the purpose of this dissertation project to broach the issue of rank in the context of medieval speech acts, thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the conception of rank in the 12th and 13th centuries.

The methodical starting point of the analysis is an interdisciplinary approach, according to which not only historiographical texts (such as the Gesta Friderici I. imperatoris by Otto of Freising resp. Rahewin) but also selected works of courtly epic poetry form the basis of the study. Courtly epic poetry is here understood to cover the complete secular great epic – from the heroic epic and the so-called minstrel epic to the courtly novel. Although it is in many respects generally problematic for historians to draw on fictional literature, epics such as König Rother (King Rother), the Nibelungenlied (Song of the Nibelungs) or Tristan by Gottfried von Straßburg are extremely valuable sources due to the abundance of speech sequences that can be found in them and should not be ignored.

The project is limited to the evidence from the Holy Roman Empire and has a diachronic design – the period under consideration ranges from 1150/70 to c. 1300. The possibility is thus provided to trace regularities, which are stable in the long term, but first and foremost to trace changes in the configuration of rank and to examine the extent to which these changes can be seen as a reflection of social development processes.

The study of the following four aspects is central to the dissertation project:

With the aid of questions such as, “In what order do the speakers speak”, “Who addresses whom formally or informally?” or “What authority is ascribed to a speech act by the speaker?”, those means will initially be examined with which rank is directly or indirectly expressed in direct speech and in the situative context surrounding it. Secondly, the differentiations of rank that can be detected in this will be analysed.

Furthermore, with regard to the representation of rank, the differences and similarities which can be identified between courtly epic poetry and historiographical works on the one hand and between Latin and Middle High German texts on the other hand will be thematised.
Finally and fourthly, the effects that the precept of humility, founded in Christianity, had on the otherwise customary habitus of rank are of interest – that is, to what extent do testimonies of humility (e.g. in the context of repentance rituals or obeisance) influence or even completely invalidate verbal expressions and differentiations of rank.

Research interests:

• Historical dialogue research
• Ranc and social order in the Middle Ages
• Symbolic communication in the pre-modern period

Function within the Cluster/membership in projects and groups:

• Member of the study group Authorship
• Coordinator of the study group Inbetween Facts and Fiction

Publications:

Conference proceedings

• (with Daniel Lizius and Kristina Rzehak): Zwischen Fakten und Fiktionen. Literatur und Geschichtsschreibung in der Vormoderne, Münster, 16./17.02.2011, in: AHF-Information 128, 21.07.2011.

Courses:

• Winter term 2010/11 (together with Daniel Lizius and Kristina Rzehak): „Zwischen Fakten und Fiktionen. Literatur und Geschichtsschreibung in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit“, WWU Münster, Germanistisches Institut / Historisches Seminar
• SoSe 2005: Tutorium zum Proseminar „Stadt, Land, Fluß – Bürger, Bauern und Handel im Mittelalter“, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Historisches Seminar

Conference Organisation:

• Interdisciplinary workshop „Zwischen Fakten und Fiktionen. Literatur und Geschichtsschreibung in der Vormoderne“, Münster, 16.-17.02.2011  (together with Daniel Lizius and Kristina Rzehak)

Lectures:

• Springschool Geschichte der Ritualwissenschaften (Brescia), Thema: „Ritualisierung im Kontext sprachlicher Rangkonstitution in historiographischen und literarischen Zeugnissen des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts“ (02.04.2009)
• Forschungskolloquium 800-1800 (Münster), Thema: „Consilio sapientum rex habito,... Beratung zwischen König und Großen am Beispiel der ,Gesta Friderici I. imperatoris‘“ (21.07.2010)
• Kolloquium zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte, Prof. Dr. Knut Görich (München), Thema: „At princeps diu cum proceribus maioribusque [...] consultans... Königlich-fürstliche Beratungen im Spiegel der ,Gesta Friderici I. imperatoris‘“ (22.07.2010)
• Tagung Ritual and Narration (Heidelberg), Thema: „Between Political Practice and Narrative Strategies: Representations of the King’s Council in Medieval Courtly Epic Poetry“ (17.11.2011)

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