Tirant lo Blanc
Tirant lo Blanc , in the old spelling Tirant lo Blanch , ( Catalan for "Tirant the White (Knight)"), written by Joanot Martorell , is a chivalric novel in the ancient Valencian language , published in1490 in Valencia as an incunabulum , in the tradition of the courtly novel, a variety of Catalan, and is considered to be the cornerstone in the history of modern novels due to its unusually sharp realism. The novel was republished in Barcelona in 1497.
action
The plot tells of a Breton knight called Tirant, nicknamed "the white knight", who has many adventures in Europe until the Eastern Roman emperor asks him to help in the war against the Turks. Tirant accepts the order and saves the Eastern Roman Empire from the Turks. After that he has a few more adventures in the Mediterranean, but dies before he can marry the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.
Some features of Tirant show certain similarities to Roger de Flor , the leader of the Almogàvers , who helped fight the Turks and was murdered by the Byzantines .
effect
Tirant lo Blanc is considered one of the most important books in Valencian literature and has repeatedly been named one of the best books ever written. The novel is considered to be the main source for Miguel de Cervantes ' Don Quixote de la Mancha , which appeared a century later. Cervantes described Tirant lo Blanc as "the best book in the world" and as a "treasure of contentment and a mine of pastime".
The novel saw several editions in the 16th century, but was then largely forgotten by the reading public. The novel experienced a certain renaissance in the late 20th century (the literary scholar Dámaso Alonso even named it “the best European novel of the 15th century”) and has since been available in several editions and translations.
In 2006 the novel was filmed in Spain. In September 2007, a German edition was published for the first time with the title Der Roman vom Weißen Ritter Tirant lo Blanc . His translator, Fritz Vogelgsang , was awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the “ Translation ” category in March 2008 for his decades of translation work on the novel .
expenditure
German editions:
- The novel of the white knight Tirant lo Blanc . Abridged edition. Translated from the Old Catalan by Fritz Vogelgsang. Fischer , Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-10-042603-7
- The novel of the white knight Tirant lo Blanc . Complete edition. Translated from the Old Catalan by Fritz Vogelgsang. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-10-042606-2
- The novel of the white knight Tirant lo Blanc , radio play, Der Audio Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-89813-677-8
English editions:
- Tirant Lo Blanc , translated by David H. Rosenthal (1983, 1996), ISBN 0-8018-5421-0
- Tirant Lo Blanc: The Complete Translation (Catalan Studies, Vol 1) , translated by Ray La Fontaine (1994), ISBN 0-8204-1688-6
Dutch edition:
- De Volmaakte Ridder , Amsterdam, Uitgeverij Atenaeum, 2001, 1039 pp ., ISBN 9789025353247
literature
- Arthur Terry: Tirant lo Blanc: New Approaches . Tamesis 1999, ISBN 1855660687
- Howard Mancing: The Cervantes Encyclopedia: L-Z . Greenwood Publishing Group 2004, p. 659 ( Google excerpt )
Web links
- English translation at Project Gutenberg
- Universitat de València, Parnaseo, press release for the German edition (PDF)
- Text (Valencian)