“Trasformismo di genere” e generi letterari nella letteratura francese medievale. I casi di "Yde et Olive" e del "Roman de Silence"

Abstract

Literary Middle Ages appears to be a useful field of investigation for reflecting on the paths and methods of relationships between gender identities. A theme that fits perfectly into the issue of gender fluidity is what we could define as “gender transformism”. Done in different ways and to pursue different purposes, gender transformism often involves a character who is forced to “change clothes”, thus becoming a cross-dresser. The question of “gender” then intersects with the problem of medieval “literary genres” and their intrinsic “fluidity”, especially from the end of the 12th century onwards. By selecting two specific cases from medieval French literature and relating to two different literary genres (Yde et Olive for the epic and Roman de Silence for the romance), this article tries to focus on the dynamics through which gender transformation takes place, highlighting: 1. modes of fluidity and the relationship between sex and identity; 2. objectives of the transformation and relationships of cross-dressers with themselves and with others; 3. relationships and differences between “transformism/transvestism” and literary genre.