To 'reproduce the forms of ancestors': The Conception(s) of Medieval Romance

我的博士研究将产生第一本书的长度在古法语的概念主题的研究，MiddleFrench，和中古英语的浪漫。今天，怀孕被视为我们生命中重要而短暂的开始。然而，在中世纪，受孕不仅仅是一个生物学过程：它不仅使中世纪等级制度的继承结构成为可能，而且通过Immaculate概念，它成为基督教赖以建立的叙事结构，从而塑造了欧洲的宗教和社会景观。概念的重要性通过它在中世纪浪漫中常见的、经常出现的问题和不可否认的影响力表现出来。这些作品表明，概念超越了富有成效的性接触：它是一种浪漫机制，有可能增强甚至改变我们对文本的理解。这门学科提供了对中世纪生活和文学起源的独特见解。

My doctoral research will generate the first book-length study of the theme of conception in Old French, MiddleFrench, and Middle English romances. Today, conception is seen as the essential yet fleeting moment whichbegins each of our lives. However, in the Middle Ages conception was more than a biological process: not only didit enable the structures of inheritance which underpinned medieval hierarchies, but through the Immaculateconception it became the narrative structure upon which Christianity was built, thus shaping the religious and sociallandscape of Europe. The importance of conception is displayed through its familiar, frequently-problematic, andundoubtedly-influential presence across medieval romance. These works show that conception extends beyond aproductive sexual encounter: it is a romance mechanism with the potential to enhance and even change ourunderstanding of texts in which it features. This subject offers unique insights into the genesis of medieval life andliterature.