The medieval Latin planctus as a genre

Description

The problem of defining a genre is the central issue addressed in this thesis. I aim to establlsh through empirical investigation whether the medieval Latin planctus, a lament normally composed at death of important personages, constitutes a genre, and to isolate the terms of its definition. In order to be designated a genre, it must be found to possess an underlying unity, otherwise the term will be purely taxonomic. Hitherto, references to the planctus have occurrcd predominantly in discussions of funeral verse, the origins of the Passion play, and the interrelation of European verse and musical forms. However, its general features have never been studied systematically. Initlally I discuss the problem of gathering together a corpus of planctus when a generally accepted definition is lacking. For theoretical and pragmatlc reasons I restrict myself to planctus composed at the death of historlcal, biblical and classical personages, or at the destruotion of cities, written in verse or as song. My analyses consider its status as a genre with respect to its social environment, poetic form, musical style, subject matter, language and the relationship between words and muslc. They indlcate that it represents a public statement of grief, is typified by eulogy and formal exclamatory language, and was normally lntended to be sung. It is also characterised by a number of different musical styles, poetic forms, and social purposes. Despite this, it is nevertheless generically distlnct, since genre can be descrlbed as a collectivity or family which retalns a nucleus of common features, but also changes gradually through time. I thus demonstrate that the planctus can be designated a genre, illustrate the diversity of its literary and musical style, and discuss the aesthetlc of a genre which survived for over six centuries.