Marie de France’s Eliduc – A Repentant Sinner. Guildeluec’s Cultural Memory as a Means of Spiritual Progress
Marie de France’s Eliduc – A Repentant Sinner. Guildeluec’s Cultural Memory as a Means of Spiritual Progress

Summary/Abstract: In this article I want to discuss the importance of cultural memory within the plot of one of the lais written by Marie de France and to show that the character who is the “custodian” of cultural memory is also the one who can solve the crisis brought about by the other characters’ alienation from traditions. I will argue that this cultural background is the Christian tradition, which is completed by, and not opposed to, some pre-Christian (profoundly natural, rather than super-natural) knowledge, which precedes the cultural one. I will use Jan Assmann’s theory on cultural memory, in order to identify the elements of the cultural background which is defining for Eliduc, the longest lai written by Marie de France. Discussing the issue of cultural memory in this lai is relevant, as the scholar can identify the source of Guildeluec’s superiority, namely her position of guardian of cultural memory. The elements of the cultural memory: Christian principles, Celtic heritage and popular knowledge, work harmoniously to bring about the spiritual progress of all the characters.

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