Courtly Love And The What?

David Dalbey publicly defended his thesis tonight at New Saint Andrews College. Here’s the full description of his thesis:

Mr. David Dalbey
Committee: Dr. Peter Leithart, Mr. Jayson Grieser, Mr. Douglas Jones
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 6:45 pm in NSA Augustine Classroom
Courtly Love and the “Cathar Thesis”: A defense and partial rehabilitation of Denis de Rougemont’s L’Amour en L’Occident

In 1939, Denis de Rougemont wrote Love in the Western World, an examination of the history of what we know as “Romantic Love,” in order to diagnose the tragic nature of marital and literary love in the modern West. Among his various speculations on the origins of romantic love in connection with the troubadours of 12th century France, de Rougemont offered that the Albigensian heretics known as the Cathars may have contributed to the origins of the Courtly Love of the Troubadour’s lyrics. His theory was discredited, in part due to its resemblance to those recently put forward by neo-mystics and grail-seekers, and has not been carefully examined to this day. This thesis is an attempt to lay some historical groundwork for de Rougemont’s claim; contending that the Cathars were far significant in their discursive state than is often acknowledged by contemporary Troubadour-scholars, and so ought to be considered in the examination of the Troubadours and the origins of Courtly Love.

I work with David over at Canon Press. I love this man. He has a wicked sense of humor, he’s super smart, and he doesn’t take himself too seriously. His wife, Alisha, gave me a heads-up last week and I’m really glad I was able to attend his thesis defense. It’s such a pleasure to work with David. He’s refreshing and has no problem telling me my ideas suck. Then again, I have no problem telling him his designs suck. He’s the guy who created the cover for How to be Free From Bitterness, along with many, many covers. I blogged about covers over on the Canon Press blog here.

Here’s to David Dalbey and his huge, creative brain! May he have many years to use it.

March 18, 2008 | Category: Family & Friends