The discourse of displacement in Beroul's 'Tristan et Iseult': Displaced people, displaced responsibility, displaced meaning (France)

This study examines the impact that occurs in discourse when high-ranking individuals in a power structure, the literary characters in Beroul's twelfth-century Tristan et Iseult, are displaced within the hierarchy for not having conformed to ideology. While the lovers' existing identities govern their language use, they concurrently employ what I have termed the discourse of displacement to create identities to reintegrate into the power hegemony and assume the positions of power to which they feel entitled. As rightful members of the power elite, Tristan and Iseult engage in strategic language use: they manipulate language to negotiate power.; Marginalized through circumstance, not by choice, they demonstrate keen understanding of the state of affairs in their clever use of language to defend themselves as they defy the status quo in the face of suspicion and condemnation. Yet, paradoxically, while Tristan and Iseult skillfully and deliberately control language, language within its societal constraints also controls them. Displaced within the power hegemony, they no longer feel bound by the conventional maxims of the group, but they remain victims of the ideological constraints of the language of the greater community. They displace responsibility, which enables them to engage in creative use of language with variable levels of interpretation. Meaning is displaced, or shifts, within this communicative context. Tristan and Iseult—and especially Iseult—take charge linguistically of the state of affairs in a subtle game of power and politics.; This study conforms in nature and scope with the now generally recognized sociolinguistic process of creating identities and employs qualitative discourse analytic methodology. Analysis demonstrates the sociolinguistic processes in Tristan and Iseult's language: Tristan role indexes against the powerful roles of the culture-hegemonic masculinity; Iseult appeals to community identification through laterally-based, socially-sensitive, feminine roles. They both negotiate power on two levels: locally in concert with context; globally through cultural metaphors. They employ numerous linguistic devices to variously confirm and reinforce their status. Thus this study reveals the humanness of Beroul's characters in their subtle language games as they struggle to survive—and to thrive—in a harsh and judgmental world.