Abstract

Abstract: The Llibre de meravelles (Felix or the Book of Wonders) by Ramon Llull includes an extensive collection of plausible stories, used by the characters to show their views about the world or to express their position in the debate. The stories are created ad hoc by the author and their life begins and ends with that single enunciation within the novel. That fleeting, ephemeral condition occasionally gives them the appearance of mere narrative hypothesis. Some of these stories even seem to have a provisional or unstable plot which emphasizes their illusory nature. The writing of the book reveals an enormous effort of experimentation, visible not only in the design of the stories, but also in the «dialogue» that is established among them. This desire for experimentation is finally projected onto the reader, as the text truly becomes a guide for inventing new stories. That meta-exemplary dimension is the clearest sign of originality of Llull’s proposal in the scene of Medieval Exemplary Literature.   Key words: Catalan Literature, Medieval Literature, Ramon Llull, Felix or the Book of Wonders, Plausible example, Story, Dialogue, Narrative Experimentation.

Abstract

The study of auxiliary verbs in compound tenses («haver» vs. «Ésser») in Old Catalan is a topic discussed in many works. But no research deeply analysing literary works of the time and using an accurate methodology is available. Our purpose is to show that so significant medieval literary works such as «Llibre de Meravelles» by Ramon Llull, «Llibre dels Fets» by King James I & «Tirant lo Blanch», can also provide very valuable information to understand the phenomenon of change of auxiliary. Referring to usage frequencies, we show that chronology plays a great role in these alternations and outline a whole series of factors that explain the observed evolutive tendencies.