Court Culture (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: (German) Bumke, translated by He Shan and Liu Huaxin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-06-01
Features: It should be particularly noted that the term "court" in the title of this book cannot be narrowly understood according to the literal meaning of the Chinese characters, and a completely accurate translation is almost impossible. Here, "court" generally refers to the upper class and its cultural atmosphere, not merely the imperial palace or royal residence. Bumke essentially uses it as a concept of literary and sociocultural history. At the end of each chapter, he spends several pages defining it. Readers should review this section before reading the entire book to grasp the overall theme. Of course, as mentioned earlier, the scope of this book is not limited to literary works and their love and marriage. A significant portion of the content describes and introduces material culture related to the nobility's daily life, military activities, and also provides detailed accounts of the cultivation of noble youth, the influence of French culture and university education on Germany, as well as the patronage system for court literature and art. Such content is rarely seen in other historical works. Describing Bumke's book as a series of mosaic murals is not entirely praise but also points out its flaws. The overall structure of the book is rather loose. If readers hope to gain a highly refined and summarized understanding of medieval court society through this book, they may be somewhat disappointed. Even at the end of the book, we do not find a concluding chapter. For this reason, I personally appreciate the author even more. Traditional German historiography and the Annales School popular in the 20th century in the West do not exclude a grand narrative alongside meticulous research, often influenced by various ideological and political trends. Bumke attempts to avoid such research paradigms. Therefore, his storytelling approach, though slightly tedious, has its own charm. Like raindrops falling to form a pool of emerald green, it does not concern itself with the source or destination, casting reflections of knights and noblewomen. He does not lecture his readers on grand theories.