Eric fighting in Guatemala. Adaptation and proximation of medieval Arthurian literature in Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Erec y Enide

Sanz Mingo, Carlos 2023. Eric fighting in Guatemala. Adaptation and proximation of medieval Arthurian literature in Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Erec y Enide. Journal of the International Arthurian Society 11 (1) , pp. 83-104. 10.1515/jias-2023-0005

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Abstract

Europe boasts a large number of traditions and cultures which coexist in a relatively small space. However, despite this, different literary motifs and topics have been readapted and transformed into other different traditions. The Arthurian legend is a prime example of this. Whilst it originated in the British Isles, it rapidly expanded throughout the continent in many different cultural manifestations, from poetry to decorative arts, music to drama. The Arthurian legend acquired special importance in France, where Chrétien de Troyes’s Erec et Enide gave it a courtly touch. The Welsh version of the story, Geraint ap Erbin, is less courtly than its French counterpart but keeps elements proper to the Welsh tradition. Thus, the Arthurian legend developed in different cultural traditions throughout the Middle Ages and it is the object of readaptations even today. Erec et Enide was recently rewritten and readapted into Spanish as a contemporary story focusing on modern-day problems. Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Erec y Enide is an exceptional example of intercultural practice tailored to a culture (or even cultures) different from the original one in which it was composed. This article analyses the process of transferring and recreating the European medieval time and space of the French and Welsh texts into a Latin-American contemporary context, where brigands and thieves are substituted by henchmen and guerrillas and argues how translation can play a key role in the recreation of the medieval world in a contemporary setting.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Modern Languages
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages P Language and Literature > PC Romance languages P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures
Publisher:	De Gruyter
ISSN:	2196-9361
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 November 2023
Date of Acceptance:	20 July 2022
Last Modified:	15 Nov 2023 14:05
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163009

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