Entblößung und Verhüllung

Nudity in medieval literature in many cases means the phenomenon or rather the staging of a female body in a delicate garment, namely the chemise. The author explores specific scenes in court epics, in which the female body is depicted in the white chemise. She is interested in scenes of ‘exposure’ and ‘covering’ of the female figure in the text. The fabric – the chemise – resembles most closely the skin – the biological mantle of the body, which at one and the same time is both the blanketing shroud and the transparent surface. Her study shows that the chemise serves as a symbolic and symbolised area of expression and signs with which the body of the figure is endowed with meaning.