Bos Motz: Well-Chosen Words in Occitania

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Société Guilhem IX

Organizer Name

Valerie M. Wilhite

Organizer Affiliation

Univ. of Oregon

Presider Name

Sarah-Grace Heller

Presider Affiliation

Ohio State Univ.

Paper Title 1

Amors Is a Four-Letter Word: How Word Usage Tells Us What the Troubadours Really Thought about Love

Presenter 1 Name

Roy Hagman

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Trent Univ.

Paper Title 2

O son tuit li mot triat: The Cobla as Model of Literary Perfection

Presenter 2 Name

Courtney Joseph Wells

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Paper Title 3

Beatritz de Mongalvanh

Presenter 3 Name

Wendy Pfeffer

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Univ. of Louisville

Start Date

9-5-2013 1:30 PM

Session Location

Schneider 1120

Description

Session 1: Panel

Bos motz: Well-Chosen Words in Occitania

"Bos motz" are often evoked as an appealing feature in troubadour songs. Peire Vidal's Vida recounts that he used "fine words". Rhetorical treatises likewise vaunt their importance and instruct on how they may be achieved. This panel explores Occitan words, good and bad (for instance, "paubres motz") within the contexts of linguistics, semantics, translation, rhetorica, historical terms, links between words and music, and manuscript variations.

Valerie M. Wilhite