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. |
From inside the book
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Page 12
... better sources of accurate information be- gins to look less obviously sensible . If we are to come to terms with eyewitness testimony , with its potential and its limitations , we must take account of its status as an act of human ...
... better sources of accurate information be- gins to look less obviously sensible . If we are to come to terms with eyewitness testimony , with its potential and its limitations , we must take account of its status as an act of human ...
Page 102
... better . Moreover , the essayist never claims that the simple man he lauds knows more than do the " clever people " he criticizes ; indeed , it is the latter who " observe more things and more curiously . " Given some of the elements of ...
... better . Moreover , the essayist never claims that the simple man he lauds knows more than do the " clever people " he criticizes ; indeed , it is the latter who " observe more things and more curiously . " Given some of the elements of ...
Page 158
... better to abstain from the sign than to change it . Oth- ers said , on the contrary , that when Christ instituted the Lord's Supper , being in the land of Judea , he had spoken of the ordi- nary drink of that region , and that if he had ...
... better to abstain from the sign than to change it . Oth- ers said , on the contrary , that when Christ instituted the Lord's Supper , being in the land of Judea , he had spoken of the ordi- nary drink of that region , and that if he had ...
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