I had a professor at university who insisted that we are all people of the renaissance. So much of how we see the world, art, science, ourselves... was shaped in that critical timeframe. Obviously this cannot be seen as a single moment when everything changed all of a sudden, but things were shifting quicker than before for a number of reasons.
Now the whole concept of the renaissance, when it started, what it entailed and so on is being revised by historians, and a subject of debate. But nobody, not even proponents of a very long Middle Ages, would use a 16th century work like Orlando Furioso to say anything about medieval literature. It's just a product of a different age and would not have been made in the early 15th century, just like Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774) could not have been made in the 1600's. Works of fiction are products of their time. That fact that Orlando Furioso was written in the 16th century is extremely relevant, since it was clearly a new kind of work that had success and great influence on later authors.
It has absolutely nothing to do with the context of the early 15th century.
Bestiaries had as their prime purpose to show how the entire natural world reveals biblical truths. They are didactic, moralistic an religious. If you don't believe me, just read the introductory paragraph of the wiki: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Now take any medieval work you want, and ask: what is its purpose? Why was it put on parchment?
Then compare that purpose to the purpose of modern fantastic novels. And you will start to see why the terminology is anachronistic.
Of course you can always say that the VM is different, but then we opt to abandon the known cultural context of the early 15th century and replace it with modern concepts, which is something I think is probably not the most productive.
Now the whole concept of the renaissance, when it started, what it entailed and so on is being revised by historians, and a subject of debate. But nobody, not even proponents of a very long Middle Ages, would use a 16th century work like Orlando Furioso to say anything about medieval literature. It's just a product of a different age and would not have been made in the early 15th century, just like Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774) could not have been made in the 1600's. Works of fiction are products of their time. That fact that Orlando Furioso was written in the 16th century is extremely relevant, since it was clearly a new kind of work that had success and great influence on later authors.
It has absolutely nothing to do with the context of the early 15th century.
Bestiaries had as their prime purpose to show how the entire natural world reveals biblical truths. They are didactic, moralistic an religious. If you don't believe me, just read the introductory paragraph of the wiki: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
Now take any medieval work you want, and ask: what is its purpose? Why was it put on parchment?
Then compare that purpose to the purpose of modern fantastic novels. And you will start to see why the terminology is anachronistic.
Of course you can always say that the VM is different, but then we opt to abandon the known cultural context of the early 15th century and replace it with modern concepts, which is something I think is probably not the most productive.
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