Due nomi e due destini per un personaggio: il romanzo di Manekine di Philippe de Remi

Abstract

Philippe de Remi’s Roman de la Manekine (13th century) tells the wellknown folktale of the ‘handless maiden’. The heroine’s birthname is Joïe, which recalls ‘joy’ and evokes sometimes the joy of those surrounding her, sometimes her own happiness, and especially the courtly ‘joie d’amour’. Persecuted by her father, the girl chooses the incognito, and the King of Scotland gives her, because of her mutilation, the nickname of «Manekine»: but in this name it is also possible to find other echoes, reminding of the mannequin burnt at the end of the Carnival.