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University of California Press

About the Book

Clement Marot and the Inflections of Poetic Voice delves into the dynamic intersections of persona, form, and voice in the poetry of Clément Marot, the foremost French poet of his time and a pioneer at the crossroads of medieval and Renaissance poetics. This work explores how Marot navigated the evolving literary landscape, infusing established genres with a distinctly personal voice that reflects his complex engagements with courtly tradition and burgeoning humanist thought. The volume addresses critical issues, including Marot’s manipulation of poetic conventions, his nuanced responses to religious and cultural currents, and his mastery in creating a fluid poetic self that both aligns with and transcends his historical moment.

In tracing Marot’s stylistic evolution, this study positions his work as foundational to the French Renaissance, showing how his control over form, theme, and language established a framework for the later innovations of the Pléiade. Examining his corpus across multiple genres, the book highlights Marot’s interplay between inherited forms and original expression, while also addressing the challenges posed by his courtly environment and the textual inconsistencies of his published works. With comprehensive scholarship, Clement Marot and the Inflections of Poetic Voice offers academics and literary scholars a profound insight into Marot’s enduring influence on the development of French literary identity, making it essential reading for those interested in Renaissance studies, poetic voice, and the shaping of poetic selfhood.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1974.