Rip Cohen - Academia.edu

Part of a project to construct a pragmatic grammar (or a grammar of scripts) for the cantigas d’ ... more Part of a project to construct a pragmatic grammar (or a grammar of scripts) for the cantigas d’ amigo.

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric, 2013

This edition was superseded by The Cantigas of Pero Meogo (2014). I post it here for its lightne... more This edition was superseded by The Cantigas of Pero Meogo (2014).  I post it here for its lightness and because Appendix 5 contains remarks that may be worthy of note. The reading augua in nos. 5 and 9 was corrected to agua in 2014.

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric, 2013

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric , 2013

The article of Formentin and Ciaralli, which I reported on this page in September 2022, has final... more The article of Formentin and Ciaralli, which I reported on this page in September 2022, has finally given rise to a follow up in the Revista Galega de Fîloloxia (2023), "Da Italorromania dos séculos IX-X á Iberromania do século XII: escritura e reescritura do motivo Fui eo, madre... na cantiga de amigo," by Mariña Arbor Aldeã. Her article, however, entirely omits the debate between Resende de Oliveira and his followers, on the one hand, and myself regarding the origins of the cantiga d'amigo. Leaving aside that Aldea's piece sounds amateurish and appears (in my view) to be either dishonest or ill-informed, it seems appropriate now to repost an article of my own from 2013, posted on this site and then withdrawn out of compassion. My conclusion in this article, now supported by the astonishing discovery of Formentin and Ciaralli, is this:

"The relevant evidence is formal (strophic forms), linguistic (historical phonology and etymology), rhetorical (study of verbal repetition with variation), and pragmatic (study of scripts). A cautious interpretation supports the argument that the evidence, taken all together, points to a traditional social and poetic matrix, since nothing else can account for this combination of elements. The conclusion is that the cantigas d’ amigo are rooted in a tradition of oral-formulaic female-voiced erotic song, even if all we have is indirect evidence––as in so much of modern physics."

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric, 2014

The evidence of aaB strophes, newly analyzed, should be taken account in the history of rhymed st... more The evidence of aaB strophes, newly analyzed, should be taken account in the history of rhymed strophic poetry in Andalusi Arabic and the Romance languages.

Abriu: Textuality Studies on Brazil, Galicia and Portugal 11: 221-238, 2022

This paper examines the relationships between cognition and the design of verses, strophes, poems... more This paper examines the relationships between cognition and the design of verses, strophes, poems and an entire sequence in the cantigas d'amigo of the 13 th century Galician poet Pero Meogo. The brain rewards itself for correctly predicting phenomena. Tension is greatest when a surprise delays a predicted event. In the ninth and last cantiga of Meogo we find unique virtuosity in the handling of leixa-pren and a unique change in rhyme-scheme just before the end of the poem and the sequence. There is, moreover, an extraordinary correspondence between Meogo 9 and a mother-daughter dialogue in a Serbian ballad transcribed in the early 18 th century.

In June 2022 a once-in-a-century discovery was published by Vittorio Formentin and Antonio Ciaral... more In June 2022 a once-in-a-century discovery was published by Vittorio Formentin and Antonio Ciaralli in an article entitled ‚Un frammento di 'canzone di donna' in volgare dell'alto medioevo‛ in Lingua e Stile, Rivista di storia della lingua italiana, 1 (2022): 3-37.

Correction: folio 38r.

Talk given at Coloquio Internacional “Editar cantigas (de amigo) no século XXI." Universidade da Coruña, 2021

Behind an important decision may lie the academic background of the textual critic and personal c... more Behind an important decision may lie the academic background of the textual critic and personal circumstances or chance events that bring the problem into focus or are crucial to its solution; and the decision may have repercussions beyond the individual text, such as evidence for the coherence of a sequence of texts, insights into the context of its composition, and implications for cultural history. This paper deals with several such decisions.

This article offers a new critical text of a cantiga d'escarnho by Roi Paez de Ribela along with ... more This article offers a new critical text of a cantiga d'escarnho by Roi Paez de Ribela along with an analysis of problems presented by the metrics, syntax, rhetoric and action of the poem.

Coloquio-Letras, 1994

Describes my 1987 book Thirty-two Cantigas d’amigo of Dom Dinis: Typology of a Portuguese Renunci... more Describes my 1987 book Thirty-two Cantigas d’amigo of Dom Dinis: Typology of a Portuguese Renunciation (Madison: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies), stakes out a theoretical position regarding organized sequences, and adds some remarks on the poetics of the Angry Girl.

The Vindel Parchment and Martin Codax / O Pergamiño Vindel e Martin Codax. Ed. Alexandre Rodríguez Guerra and Xosé Bieito Arias Freixedo. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018

This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax... more This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax: strophic design; the rhetorical technique of interlocking repetition with variation called leixa-pren; and theoretical connections between form, rhetoric and ease of cognitive processing (drawing on Nigel Fabb 2014, 2015). It also argues that a smetrical analysis of these poems supports the thesis that they constitute an organized sequence.

JScholarship, 2012

To establish a praxis, rules are not enough; we need examples. Our rules leave backdoors open, an... more To establish a praxis, rules are not enough; we need examples. Our rules leave backdoors open, and the praxis must speak for itself. -Wittgenstein Some believe that the cantiga d'amigo are "static," that nothing much happens in them and that, at most, they represent states of emotion, or a girl and her moods. 1 But I would say (adapting what Aristotle wrote about tragedy) that in a cantiga d'amigo what is represented is not primarily persons or emotions, but rather praxis and bios: action and life.

The Vindel Parchment and Martin Codax / O Pergamiño Vindel e Martin Codax, 2018

This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax... more This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax: strophic design; the rhetorical technique of interlocking repetition with variation called leixa-pren; and theoretical connections between form, rhetoric and ease of cognitive processing (drawing on Nigel Fabb 2014, 2015). It also argues that a metrical analysis of these poems supports the thesis that they constitute an organized sequence.

Modern Critical Theory and Classical Literature , 1994

Verba, 2019

The traitor (traedor) against whom a girl vows vengeance in a cantiga d'amigo of Nuno Treez (pres... more The traitor (traedor) against whom a girl vows vengeance in a cantiga d'amigo of Nuno Treez (presumably a thirteenth century Galician jograr) might be thought to be San Clemenço, to whom the text is addressed, but an examination of pragmatic criteria supports the argument that the traitor is the girl's boyfriend, who may merely be late in returning to her.

Revista Galega de Filoloxía, 2018

In the cantigas d'amigo external responsion (the inter-strophic correspondence of verses that occ... more In the cantigas d'amigo external responsion (the inter-strophic correspondence of verses that occupy the same position in the strophic form) is sometimes observed by pairs of strophes. Recognition of this phenomenon solves what had seemed to be problems in several texts and should be taken into account in textual criticism.

Part of a project to construct a pragmatic grammar (or a grammar of scripts) for the cantigas d’ ... more Part of a project to construct a pragmatic grammar (or a grammar of scripts) for the cantigas d’ amigo.

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric, 2013

This edition was superseded by The Cantigas of Pero Meogo (2014). I post it here for its lightne... more This edition was superseded by The Cantigas of Pero Meogo (2014).  I post it here for its lightness and because Appendix 5 contains remarks that may be worthy of note. The reading augua in nos. 5 and 9 was corrected to agua in 2014.

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric, 2013

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric , 2013

The article of Formentin and Ciaralli, which I reported on this page in September 2022, has final... more The article of Formentin and Ciaralli, which I reported on this page in September 2022, has finally given rise to a follow up in the Revista Galega de Fîloloxia (2023), "Da Italorromania dos séculos IX-X á Iberromania do século XII: escritura e reescritura do motivo Fui eo, madre... na cantiga de amigo," by Mariña Arbor Aldeã. Her article, however, entirely omits the debate between Resende de Oliveira and his followers, on the one hand, and myself regarding the origins of the cantiga d'amigo. Leaving aside that Aldea's piece sounds amateurish and appears (in my view) to be either dishonest or ill-informed, it seems appropriate now to repost an article of my own from 2013, posted on this site and then withdrawn out of compassion. My conclusion in this article, now supported by the astonishing discovery of Formentin and Ciaralli, is this:

"The relevant evidence is formal (strophic forms), linguistic (historical phonology and etymology), rhetorical (study of verbal repetition with variation), and pragmatic (study of scripts). A cautious interpretation supports the argument that the evidence, taken all together, points to a traditional social and poetic matrix, since nothing else can account for this combination of elements. The conclusion is that the cantigas d’ amigo are rooted in a tradition of oral-formulaic female-voiced erotic song, even if all we have is indirect evidence––as in so much of modern physics."

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric, 2014

The evidence of aaB strophes, newly analyzed, should be taken account in the history of rhymed st... more The evidence of aaB strophes, newly analyzed, should be taken account in the history of rhymed strophic poetry in Andalusi Arabic and the Romance languages.

Abriu: Textuality Studies on Brazil, Galicia and Portugal 11: 221-238, 2022

This paper examines the relationships between cognition and the design of verses, strophes, poems... more This paper examines the relationships between cognition and the design of verses, strophes, poems and an entire sequence in the cantigas d'amigo of the 13 th century Galician poet Pero Meogo. The brain rewards itself for correctly predicting phenomena. Tension is greatest when a surprise delays a predicted event. In the ninth and last cantiga of Meogo we find unique virtuosity in the handling of leixa-pren and a unique change in rhyme-scheme just before the end of the poem and the sequence. There is, moreover, an extraordinary correspondence between Meogo 9 and a mother-daughter dialogue in a Serbian ballad transcribed in the early 18 th century.

In June 2022 a once-in-a-century discovery was published by Vittorio Formentin and Antonio Ciaral... more In June 2022 a once-in-a-century discovery was published by Vittorio Formentin and Antonio Ciaralli in an article entitled ‚Un frammento di 'canzone di donna' in volgare dell'alto medioevo‛ in Lingua e Stile, Rivista di storia della lingua italiana, 1 (2022): 3-37.

Correction: folio 38r.

Talk given at Coloquio Internacional “Editar cantigas (de amigo) no século XXI." Universidade da Coruña, 2021

Behind an important decision may lie the academic background of the textual critic and personal c... more Behind an important decision may lie the academic background of the textual critic and personal circumstances or chance events that bring the problem into focus or are crucial to its solution; and the decision may have repercussions beyond the individual text, such as evidence for the coherence of a sequence of texts, insights into the context of its composition, and implications for cultural history. This paper deals with several such decisions.

This article offers a new critical text of a cantiga d'escarnho by Roi Paez de Ribela along with ... more This article offers a new critical text of a cantiga d'escarnho by Roi Paez de Ribela along with an analysis of problems presented by the metrics, syntax, rhetoric and action of the poem.

Coloquio-Letras, 1994

Describes my 1987 book Thirty-two Cantigas d’amigo of Dom Dinis: Typology of a Portuguese Renunci... more Describes my 1987 book Thirty-two Cantigas d’amigo of Dom Dinis: Typology of a Portuguese Renunciation (Madison: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies), stakes out a theoretical position regarding organized sequences, and adds some remarks on the poetics of the Angry Girl.

The Vindel Parchment and Martin Codax / O Pergamiño Vindel e Martin Codax. Ed. Alexandre Rodríguez Guerra and Xosé Bieito Arias Freixedo. Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018

This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax... more This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax: strophic design; the rhetorical technique of interlocking repetition with variation called leixa-pren; and theoretical connections between form, rhetoric and ease of cognitive processing (drawing on Nigel Fabb 2014, 2015). It also argues that a smetrical analysis of these poems supports the thesis that they constitute an organized sequence.

JScholarship, 2012

To establish a praxis, rules are not enough; we need examples. Our rules leave backdoors open, an... more To establish a praxis, rules are not enough; we need examples. Our rules leave backdoors open, and the praxis must speak for itself. -Wittgenstein Some believe that the cantiga d'amigo are "static," that nothing much happens in them and that, at most, they represent states of emotion, or a girl and her moods. 1 But I would say (adapting what Aristotle wrote about tragedy) that in a cantiga d'amigo what is represented is not primarily persons or emotions, but rather praxis and bios: action and life.

The Vindel Parchment and Martin Codax / O Pergamiño Vindel e Martin Codax, 2018

This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax... more This paper analyzes interrelated aspects of metrics in the seven cantigas d’amigo of Martin Codax: strophic design; the rhetorical technique of interlocking repetition with variation called leixa-pren; and theoretical connections between form, rhetoric and ease of cognitive processing (drawing on Nigel Fabb 2014, 2015). It also argues that a metrical analysis of these poems supports the thesis that they constitute an organized sequence.

Modern Critical Theory and Classical Literature , 1994

Verba, 2019

The traitor (traedor) against whom a girl vows vengeance in a cantiga d'amigo of Nuno Treez (pres... more The traitor (traedor) against whom a girl vows vengeance in a cantiga d'amigo of Nuno Treez (presumably a thirteenth century Galician jograr) might be thought to be San Clemenço, to whom the text is addressed, but an examination of pragmatic criteria supports the argument that the traitor is the girl's boyfriend, who may merely be late in returning to her.

Revista Galega de Filoloxía, 2018

In the cantigas d'amigo external responsion (the inter-strophic correspondence of verses that occ... more In the cantigas d'amigo external responsion (the inter-strophic correspondence of verses that occupy the same position in the strophic form) is sometimes observed by pairs of strophes. Recognition of this phenomenon solves what had seemed to be problems in several texts and should be taken into account in textual criticism.

The pragmatics of Johan Servando 1.

We should read: quisera_as outra vegada. Otherwise the syntax is incomplete.

Rough draft of a course put together for a concurso that never materialized.

Unpublished draft version, 2015. A much briefer version of this commentary was published in "The ... more Unpublished draft version, 2015. A much briefer version of this commentary was published in "The Cantigas of Martin Codax, edited with commentary and prolegomena," in Pergamino Vindel (Barcelona: M. Moleiro, 2016), pp. 285-305. Some of the material which did not appear there was published in “The Metrics of Martin Codax,” in The Vindel Parchment and Martin Codax / O Pergamiño Vindel e Martin Codax (Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2018), pp. 39-49.

An attempt to solve text-critical problems in a blasphemous cantiga de maldizer by Alfonso X, El ... more An attempt to solve text-critical problems in a blasphemous cantiga de maldizer by Alfonso X, El Sabio, regarding an  encounter between a man (who may be Afonso himself) and a prostitute during Quaresma. (The text and translation were  prepared for the Henry Roseman Lang lectures at Yale University in 1994.)

The analysis of strophic design is an invaluable aid to the textual critic. The correct analysis ... more The analysis of strophic design is an invaluable aid to the textual critic. The correct analysis of Fernan do Lago 1 requires us to see both an optional *prodelision* which is not indicated in the manuscripts and an optional hiatus which has been eliminated higher up the stemma.

Personae: Protokrates of Boukopolis; Smukrates of Smegara. Scene: A hillside near the river.

The metrics of the cantigas d'amigo involve a few subtleties that have led even some of the best ... more The metrics of the cantigas d'amigo involve a few subtleties that have led even some of the best scholars astray.  Over the last few decades, from Celso Cunha onwards, the claim that there are irreducible metrical irregularities in this genre has found intermittent favor.  Recently, Stephen Parkinson (2016) claims, apparently, that many poems are based on accentual not syllabic metrics—and not with concurrent patterns, where stress rhythm coexists happily with regular syllable counts.

The same pragmatic «move» can be found in ancient Greek (and Roman) poetry and in the cantigas d... more The same pragmatic «move»  can be found in ancient Greek (and Roman) poetry and in the cantigas d'amigo, (Talk given at Emory University; notes and references are missing.)

When Portuguese Girls Get Angry: A New Slant on Medieval Poetics. Henry R. Lang Lecture, Yale Uni... more When Portuguese Girls Get Angry: A New Slant on Medieval Poetics. Henry R. Lang Lecture, Yale University, November 1994. (My own typescript, copy courtesy of K.  David Jackson.)

A reading of a cantiga d'amigo that is remarkabe for its form, rhetoric and pragmatics.

Analysis of a sexual speech act.

Text and metrics are problematic.

The first critical edition of this 16th century Portuguese masterpiece to be based on the only su... more The first critical edition of this 16th century Portuguese masterpiece to be based on the only surviving copy of a folheto, without publisher, place of publication or date (probably around 1545), held by the Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon. This text is clearly anterior to (and in almost all respects superior to) the edition pubished in 1554 by the Usque Press in Ferrara, Italy.

Madison: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (Portuguese Series, 1) [v + 140 pp.], 1987

New York and London: Routledge (The New Ancient World), 1991

500 Cantigas d' Amigo. Edição Crítica / Critical Edition. Porto: Campos das Letras, 2003

JScholarship, 2010

Introduction to Portuguese Erotic Poetics Medieval Renaissance Romantic Modern

London: Department of Iberian and Latin American Studies, Queen Mary, University of London (Papers of the Medieval Hispanic Research Seminar, 68), 2012

Poetics, sexuality, custom and law in the cantigas d'amigo (pdf of final proofs)

Virtual Center for the Study of Galician-Portuguese Lyric.

Barcelona: Moleiro Editor, 2016

Estudio histórico, codicológico, paleográfico y musicológico del manuscrito, acompañado de una nu... more Estudio histórico, codicológico, paleográfico y musicológico del manuscrito, acompañado de una nueva edición de los textos.