For the March Seminar in Medieval Studies, the IEM presents the conference “Bilinguismo poético e monogamia política: Fernan Garcia Esgaravunha, Punnei eu muit’en me quitar (A126/B241)”, by Dr. Fabio Barberini.

Taking place on 22 March 2023, at 4pm and interested parties can participate online, via Zoom, or in person at the Almada Negreiros College, Room 315, 3rd Floor.

Abstract
Fernan Garcia Esgaravunha’s love song Punnei eu muit’en me quitar (A126/B241) has always attracted attention for two reasons. The first reason concerns the linguistic status of the last two verses of the refrain: French? Provençal? a mixed Gallo-Romance language insertion? The second reason affects the overall interpretation of the text: a hymn to the lover’s unwavering fidelity before a distant, unapproachable mistress? a sui generis “chanson de change” (almost a “scorning of love”) which, in swearing fidelity in another language, denies the veracity of the oath itself? After a critical review of the reading proposals advanced so far, the paper aims at answering the following question: given that Esgaravunha (born Fernan Garcia de Sousa) belonged to the powerful family of the Sousas, who supported King Afonso III in the conflict which opposed him to King Sancho II for the Portuguese throne, might the bilingual refrain of the song also contain a secondary meaning of political nature? 

Fabio Barberini holds a PhD in Romance Philology from the Università de Messina, Italy (2014), where he defended a thesis on the political poetry of Provençal troubadours. He is currently a contract researcher at the Universitat de Girona (Institut de Llengua i Cultura Catalanes) under the aid program for the incorporation of doctoral researchers “Beatriu de Pinós” funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya, and responsible for the project Trob-IB – El trobar a les corts ibèriques / Trobar in the Iberian Courts. Previously, he was a CNRS contract researcher at Université de Toulouse 2 “Jean Jaurès” (2016-2017), Università di Chieti-Pescara (2018) and Universidade Nova de Lisboa/FCSH/IEM (2019-2021). Since 2013, he has been a member of the “Cultura Neolatina” Editorial Team. His main lines of research focus on medieval Provençal, French and Portuguese literatures.