Franco-Italian Cultural Translation in the 'Prophesies de Merlin' and the 'Storia di Merlino'

Abstract

This article argues that northern Italian adaptations of the Merlin story mediate the French text culturally by exploiting alternative social dimensions within the narrative. While the Franco-Venetian Prophecies de Merlin juxtaposes the cultural discourses of Arthurian literature with ascetic and communal values, the Florentine Storia di Merlino goes further in deconstructing the social assumptions of Arthurian narrative.