Some of you know that I’m working on a paper about a fifteenth-century parodic fable found in a parody of hunting manuals. The fable itself is quite a hoot, but I’m having trouble honing in on a topic.
One thing I’m having trouble with is figuring out how to describe the humor, not just of the fable, but of the overall parody. The writer’s style of humor has been described as based on platitudes. I’m wondering what you all think.
Here’s a sample. The parody plays on the fact that most hunting manuals of the period cover the minutiae of various birds of prey in great detail: where they’re from, what characteristics to look for in a good hunting falcon, etc. So in the entry on neblies (peregrine falcons), the writer concludes:
“Estos neblíes son aves que no hay hombre del mundo que sepa en qué tierra se crian; pero los que algo sabemos todavía pensamos que nacen do quiera que ello sea, que si no naciesen, no valdrían una Blanca, que nunca vistes cuán para poco son los que están por nacer.”
(Loose translation: There is no man alive who knows where these neblíes come from, but those of us who know a bit about it think they hatch, wherever in the world it may be. For if they didn’t hatch, they wouldn’t be worth a dime, for you’ve never seen anything as worthless as those that haven’t hatched yet).
Or, how about this one (just in English): "Hawks are very handsome birds ..., even though those from Castile are evil and perverse, especially the ones from Galicia, which fart a lot."
Any thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hunting bird humor: Only in medieval Spain. Try looking up the word pastiche (preferably in a dictionary of poetic and literary terms). I believe that term might capture, at least in part, the type of humor in these vignettes.
Post a Comment