The literary memory. Allegorical and cognitive mechanisms in medieval story-telling (from the exemplum to Conde Lucanor)

Abstract

Memory is used as an allegory creating process as well as a cognitive mechanism in the exemplum, thus revealing the resources of the ars praedicandi and its implementation as a method of learning. Such resources, greatly used by these stories directly connected to the homily genre, reached a widespread use in story collections bearing an apparent didactic function where cognitive mechanisms achieve a special relevance while purporting a clearly exemplary intention. In this sense, the typical work is undoubtedly El Conde Lucanor, where the didactic intention, a faithful translation of the thought and credo of the author himself, determines the structure and the deep meaning of the text. The cognitive process assigned to memory stands out throughout the whole book, particularly in the ‘extradiegetic’ level where the author’s mind is re ected in his characters no less than in the very topics dealt with in the stories. The distance between the exemplum to the Libro de los ejemplos is determined by the cited artistic and moral concern, which enables the creation of a structure where Don Juan Manuel is identified himself with count Lucanor and the latter in turn with his characters, himself to be identi ed in the last instance by the readers who also assume the moral lessons implied in the stories.