Already in 1926, in a letter to Roman Jakobson concerning his lectures on Old Russian literature ("Vorlesungen uber die altrussische Literatur") Trubetzkoy mentions that he finds himself most interested in and enthused about texts that are considered the least literary, such as narratives of pilgrims and chronicles. In the last decades such texts have received more attention, however, so called "historical writing" dating from the Middle Ages is finding its way only slowly into courses on literature of that time period. The introduction of such materials into the classroom poses a practical challenge; editions might not be readily available, and even if they are, the sheer length of many chronicles might appear overwhelming. For example, Rudolf von Ems' unfinished Weltchronik alone amounts to more than 36,000 lines. This volume is therefore welcome as it helps make these texts accessible; even more so, it will hopefully raise the general interest in "historical writing" which tends to be dealt with only in histories of medieval German literature in English. One such example is the Medieval German Literature by Marion E. Gibbs and Sidney M. Johnson. The volume, initially published in 1997 and now available in paperback, is bound to become a standard reference work for students studying medieval German literature in the United States. The last chapter on "Literature of the Late Middle Ages: Innovations and Continuing Trends" groups chronicles with other "nonfictional writing" such as specialist literature ("Fachliteratur") and legal writings. This grouping has less to do with chronology than with the distinction between fictional and nonfictional writing. The previous chapter deals with "Post-'Classical' Literature" and the historical background for the years 1273-1400 suggests that the works within this chapter emerged within this time frame. Rudolf von Ems indeed is mentioned in this chapter as "the most significant of the post-classical poets of the first half of the thirteenth century", however it is not his "Weltchronik that has earned him the title of a poet but earlier works such as Der guote Gerhart and Barlaam and Josaphat. His Weltchronik, which was unfinished at the time of his death in 1254, is mentioned within this context as his last work. In the last chapter with one and half pages devoted to chronicles, there is no reference to his "Weltchronik, even though the authors mention the later "Weltchronik of Heinrich von Munchen from the fourteenth century, which is a compilation of older chronicles and works, including Rudolf von Ems' Weltchronik. Jans Enikel's Weltchronik and the Christherre-Chronik among others are missing entirely. The authors obviously struggled over what to include and where to include it in their excellent literary history on medieval German literature. This is not a comment on the quality of this reference work. I simply wish to point out the somewhat artificial but not at all unusual distinction between fictional--and as thus of higher "quality" -- and nonfictional--and as thus of lesser "quality"-- literature. The modern distinction between historiography and literature is questionable when it comes to literature and writing in the Middle Ages, when writing was generally not divided along the lines of nonfictional and fictional, but rather as a representation of a possible (Christian) truth and impossible (unchristian) lies. This distinction is visually represented in the christo-centric mappa mundi with Jerusalem as the center of the world and as such illustrates the perception of reality and truth in the Middle Ages. Umberto Eco's novel Baudolino (Engl. translation 2002) also provides an entertaining reading on the subject. For the influence of courtly culture on historical writing Horst Wenzel's Hofische Geschichte: Literarische Tradition und Gegenwartsdeutung in den volkssprachigen Chroniken des hohen und spaten Mittelalters from 1980 still awaits its translation into English. Thus the publication of History as Literature: German World Chronicles of the Thirteenth Century in Verse. Excerpts from: Rudolf von Ems, 'Weltchronik'; The 'Christherre-Chronik'; Jans Enikel, 'Weltchronik' marks an important attempt to fill a gap. This book, the third volume in the series Medieval German Texts in Bilingual Editions, succeeds in drawing attention to three chronicles, making them available to a larger audience in excerpts in a bilingual edition, and last but not least in addressing the issue of historical writing as literature with the aptly chosen title.
In the introduction, R. Graeme Dunphy, editor of the volume and translator of the excerpts, first briefly addresses the question of historical writing versus literature; as he states "fine literature and functional literature overlapped in style and in content," or more succinctly "history was literature." He explains the genre of a world chronicle as a conglomerate of all knowledge of its time. Earlier chronicles in the vernacular, the Annolied from the second half of the eleventh century and Kaiserchronik from the middle of the twelfth century were included in the first volume of the series (James A. Schultz, Sovereignity and Salvation in the Vernacular, 2000). The thirteenth century marks the emergence of the prose Sachsische Weltchronik and also the three Middle High German rhymed chronicles presented in the volume. Dunphy correctly points out that the use of rhyming couplets represents "a particular feature of the early phase of German historical writing." These chronicles, like many others, were literary texts meant to be performed, they were read and listened to and as such are a "form of entertainment." At this point one has to be careful not to draw the conclusion that the difference between "historical writing" and what we associate generally with "literary writing" could be seen in the way of performance, the latter to be read rather than sung. The lines are actually not clear at all, and it is likely that both were rather sung than read.
The three texts in this volume are all South German world chronicles presenting history from the beginning of time. The texts all date from the thirteenth century and are arranged in chronological order which is also logical in as far that the Christherre-Chronik is an answer to Rudolf, and Jans Enikel's writing can be seen as a possible reaction to both. The three differ in their perspective: Rudolf von Ems represents a more courtly perspective, the unknown author of Christherre-Chronik a monastic and Enikel an early "urban" point of view. Dunphy chose the beginning with the prologue of Rudolf's chronicle, the middle section of the Christherre-Chronik and the end of Enikel. The excerpts from the "Christherre-Chronik presented here are from a first critical edition currently in progress. Enikel's chronicle takes almost half of the space because of his more "secularizing approach." While it would have been nice to see three different prologues, and thus to be able to compare differences and conformity in style among the three documents, Dunphy opted instead to provide an impression of a chronicle as a whole, a good choice given both the space restrictions for this volume and the vast length of verses of the three chronicles. For Rudolf and Enikel, the volume follows the standard critical editions of Gustav Ehrismann (1915) and Philipp Strauch (1891). This allows for a limited comparison of different approaches for a critical edition: Strauch attempts a normalization of language to reconstruct a classical Middle High German, Ehrismann stays closer to the original with fewer changes, mostly referring to punctuation and abbreviations, and the editors of the Christherre-Chronik come closest to a diplomatic edition. The discussion of the manuscripts in question is limited. The critical apparatus of the editions is not provided, so that an attempt to compare between manuscript and critical edition is not possible; the appearance of the text of the three different chronicles regarding punctuation (or lack of it), vowel length, change of words etc. has to suffice. The lack of a critical apparatus and the limited number of notes add on the other hand to the readability of this volume. The introduction gives a brief overview regarding author, style, content, and explanations of the excerpts. Dunphy also addresses the illuminations of the manuscripts, and four reproductions from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century illustrate differences in approach. A table with a chronological overview with some of the most well known chronicles and a short reference bibliography with sources and further readings for the texts chosen end the chapter. Some typographical errors found their way into the bibliography, most notable however is the error on the cover of the volume ("Excerts" for "Excerpts").
The excerpts are well chosen. From Rudolf are the prologue, creation, fall from Paradise, and the description of the wonders of India. The latter is an example of the medieval imagination of the unknown world beyond where fact and fiction meet similar to the representations on the medieval mappa mundi--an exemplary text choice when addressing concepts of otherness in medieval German literature. From the Christherre-Chronik we find the story of Jacob's yearning for love ("minne") of Rachel. From Enikel we find the story of Job popular in medieval times and reflecting different medieval versions with Enikel's own twist. There are also the popular stories of two corrupt popes not mentioned by name, but easily recognized: Joan, the female medieval fiction, and the historical Sylvester II, as well as several stories relating mostly to Frederick II. The story of the wise Saladin who cannot decide to whom to entrust his wonderful table and who therefore divides it into three sections belongs to the complex of tales that we recognize in Lessing's Nathan der Weise. Enikel is the first to relate this story of Saladin in German.
This volume appears within the TEAMS (Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages) project "designed for classroom use in German and Medieval Studies as well as for the more advanced scholar in fields adjacent to that of German literature." The texts are easily accessible in this bilingual edition, and the translations read well. The choice of excerpts should capture the interest of students, and the volume is competitively priced ($11). This volume contributes to a broader perspective on Middle High German literature and is a welcome addition in this series.