Exil et littérature courtoise : un «mariage» heureux

The theme of exile has recently been the subject of renewed interest among medieval specialists. The praxeology of exile can be analyzed from different perspectives. In theological language, the human condition itself is often assimilated to that of a homo viator, the pilgrim who constantly travels towards the ultimate homeland, after the expulsion from Eden and the weakening of his intellectual, moral, and physical capacities. The exiled abandon their world, a universe made of certainties and stable relationships, to venture into an unknown and perilous world. For these reasons, during the Middle Ages, long journeys were usually organized in groups. However, sometimes the solitude of "peregrinatio" could not be avoided. The idea of ​​exile always presupposes an antinomy between what is "external" and what is "internal", and naturally, everything related to the external has a negative valence. From the "external" world come all those people on the margins of society: outlaws, prostitutes, and infidels. Going against the norms of good society meant the expulsion from the "internal" to the "external" world, a spatial-temporal upheaval that brought the exiled closer to marginalized people. Medieval literature often addressed the theme of exile between the 12th and 14th centuries, where the experience of distance is a topos of French courtly literature. Several representative texts of the period address the theme: the masterpiece of Chrétien de Troyes, Erec et Enide, in which the male protagonist, thanks to exile and the quest for adventures, will regain measure, a fundamental element to still be considered a true knight. We find the same theme also in the dramatic exile of Tristan and Isolde, one of the most appreciated profane literary works of the 12th century, which, despite some "physiological" evolutions, continues to survive today. It is a work that has affected all Western civilization for sociological, literary, but also psychological reasons.