Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Troubadour Ruses

“Those poetical conventions were essentially stage conventions. Yet for all their artificial character, they harmonized as a whole, if not in detail, with the spirit of the social circles they were designed to entertain. If the poetic passion was in large part fictitious, its seductive intention was real enough. Both men and women liked to let themselves be deceived by the fictions which at times deceive our critics and historians. Fantasy was invited to effectuate itself in actual life.”

Robert Briffault, The Troubadours

1 comment:

Nada Gordon: 2 ludic 4 U said...

Isn't fantasy always invited to "effectuate" [is that a word?] itself in real life? I mean even for non-troubadors? I ask that as a troubador.

Of course, just because it's invited doesn't mean it actually "effectuates." But still.