The Invention of the Eyewitness: Witnessing and Testimony in Early Modern FranceIn an examination of eyewitness travel writing in thirteenth- through sixteenth-century France, Andrea Frisch studies the figure of the witness at a historical juncture and in a cultural context in which that figure is generally thought to have begun to assume a recognizably modern form and function. Whereas most accounts of early modern travel literature tend to read modern presuppositions about witnessing and testimony back into the material, Frisch approaches the early modern witness in terms of the cultural legacy of the Middle Ages. Through primary readings in law and theology, Frisch documents the tension between the ethical witness (the characteristic witness of premodernity) and the epistemic witness (the modern witness) and explores the impact of that tension on the figure of the witness in pre- and early modern French-language travel literature. |
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Page 41
... authenticity of Marco Polo's account of his twenty - six years in Asia . He blames scribal error for Polo's reputation as a liar , and believes that his 1 " corrected " version of the text will prove 41 CHAPTER TWO: ETHOS.
... authenticity of Marco Polo's account of his twenty - six years in Asia . He blames scribal error for Polo's reputation as a liar , and believes that his 1 " corrected " version of the text will prove 41 CHAPTER TWO: ETHOS.
Page 54
... Asia was old news to his medieval audience , then , this depiction does not appear to have been the pri- mary basis upon which the medieval public made judgments about his credibility . - In order to counter Critchley's view that Polo's ...
... Asia was old news to his medieval audience , then , this depiction does not appear to have been the pri- mary basis upon which the medieval public made judgments about his credibility . - In order to counter Critchley's view that Polo's ...
Page 58
... Asia when he was about seventeen years old ; he didn't return to the West until he was past forty . Thus , at the time he dictated his account of the East to his cellmate in a Genoese prison , he had spent more time in the East than in ...
... Asia when he was about seventeen years old ; he didn't return to the West until he was past forty . Thus , at the time he dictated his account of the East to his cellmate in a Genoese prison , he had spent more time in the East than in ...
Common terms and phrases
accused addressee Alcofribas Alcofribas's audience authority bear witness Beaumanoir body Brazil Calvin Calvinist cannibales Cartier Catholic ceste chapter Christ Christian chroniques cited context courts credibility culture Derrida dialogue discourse duel early modern EARLY MODERN FRANCE ence epistemic essay ethical ethical relationship ethnography ethos Eucharist European evaluating explicitly eyewitness eyewitness testimony fact fait first-person firsthand experience folklaw France French Gargantua Gonneville Huguenot Imbert inquest inquisitional procedure Jean Jean de Léry judge juridical knowledge Kublai Khan Léry Léry's Léry's Histoire Mandeville Mandeville's Marco martyrs medieval medieval inquisition Montaigne Montaigne's mony narrative narrator ness oral ordinance Pantagruel party person perspective Polo Polo's prologue qu'il question Rabelais's readers refer rhetoric s'ils sacramental signs simply sixteenth century status story subornation tesmoings tesmoins testamur testi testify testimo testimonial oath Thevet tion transubstantiation truth Tupi Tupinamba ultimately Villegagnon voyage witness deposition witness testimony witness's World writing written