This systematic study of narrative authenticity in the late courtly and early modern romance is designed as a contribution to a closer understanding of the attitudes on the functioning of literature underlying works of the period in German. The early prose romance was the first genre to replace reference to existing sources by other authentication strategies. The concept of truth dominant up to that point was modified and/or supplanted by experiential knowledge. This opened up new vistas for reflection on fictionality.

Zusammenfassung

"Insgesamt kommt dieser Studie das Verdienst zu, zum ersten Mal einen systematischen und historischen Überblick über die Inszenierungen von Glaubwürdigkeit in mittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Dichtungen vorgelegt zu haben. Diese Leistung verdient Respekt."
Anja Becker in: Arbitrium 1/2007

"Schmitt clearly produced a tremendous work for anyone who is interested in the important trajectories of history, facts, fiction, experience, and, in the end, narrative truth. Finally, the student and scholar will find much to praise in it, not the least of which is that the book is very well written und superbly edited."
Gerhild Scholz Williams in: Sixteenth Century Journal, 4/2007