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

我的博士研究将产生第一本关于古法语、中古法语和中古英语浪漫小说中概念主题的书。今天，受孕被视为每个人生命开始的重要而短暂的时刻。然而，在中世纪，观念不仅仅是一个生物学过程：它不仅使支撑中世纪等级制度的继承结构成为可能，而且通过无玷概念，它成为基督教建立的叙事结构，从而塑造了欧洲的宗教和社会景观。在中世纪的浪漫故事中，概念的重要性通过其熟悉的、经常出现问题的、毫无疑问具有影响力的存在表现出来。这些研究表明，受孕不仅仅是一种富有成效的性接触：它是一种浪漫的机制，有可能增强甚至改变我们对其特征的文本的理解。这门学科为中世纪生活和文学的起源提供了独特的见解。

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.