Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Comparative Literature
Advisor
Anna Akasoy
Committee Members
Karl Steel
Steven Kruger
Subject Categories
Comparative Literature | Medieval History | Medieval Studies
Keywords
Truth, Fiction, Fictionalization, Medieval, Alexander, Arthur, History, Romance, Nuance, Literature
Abstract
This dissertation, “The Truth and Other Fictions,” is an exploration of the functional relationship between fiction and truth. It discusses truth as a type of nuanced information which may exist in a variety of forms (i.e., objective truth, narrative truth, emotional truth, cultural truth, etc.) and explores how these truths may be created or communicated through the medium of literature. The dissertation also explores how fiction, either narrative or structural, assists in said creation and communication of truth and in some cases is the necessary component to these processes. The Middle Ages and its literature provide the ideal staging ground to conduct this discussion given that medieval texts often have a high degree of fictionalization and focus on creating an aesthetic or communicating an idea in ways that embrace the use of fiction.
This work proceeds by laying out its understanding of truth as a category of information both within an objective and subjective context and describes what will be meant throughout the work when terms like fiction and non-fiction are deployed. It then places these ideas with a medieval context, outlining basic medieval ideologies that will be applied with the dissertations case studies. These case studies primarily focus on the literary traditions surrounding Alexander the Great, an historical personage who is increasingly fictionalized, and King Arthur, a pseudo-mythological figure who through fiction has a demonstrable impact on the medieval world, as figures who are culturally impactful and utilized throughout the medieval period as effective means of communicating various nuanced truths.
The basic function of this work is to explore the ways in which fiction assists the transmission of information rather than hinders it and that an understanding of the relationship between fiction and truth is crucial to a nuanced understanding of medieval literature.
Recommended Citation
Donaldson, Mark-Allan, "The Truth and Other Fictions: The Nuance of Truth in Medieval Literature" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6011