Oswald von Wolkenstein: un esempio tardomedievale di plurilinguismo

Abstract

This paper discusses some aspects of plurilingualism in Oswald von Wolkenstein’s works. After a short introduction to his life and to the manuscript tradition, the poem Do frayg amors (Kl. 69) is discussed and compared to other Oswald’s polyglot poems and / or other texts. The use of many languages is basically due to Oswald’s will to entertain his audience, even to amaze it, but also to other more practical reasons, such as mocking his rivals with mocking quotes. One of the main difficulties in dealing with Oswald’s plurilingual poems is that it is not always easy, not only to distinguish the motivations behind his choice of different languages, but also, in some passages, which specific language was used. After the discussion of the main key issues of Oswald’s plurilingualism, the current status quaestionis on these themes is presented together with relevant case studies and new personal contributions to the debate.

DOI: 10.4424/lam102021-6