Éros Lógos Musiké: Gottfrieds "Tristan" oder eine utopische renovatio der Dichtersprache und der Welt aus dem Geiste der Minne und Musik? By Anna Szirõky. Wiener Arbeiten zur germanischen Altertumskunde und Philologie, 38. Bern, et al.: Peter Lang, 2003. Pp. 545. $70.95.

Over the last several decades, a developing critical discourse of epistemology, language, and meaning has rendered great service to Tristan studies. Much work has focused on Gottfried's language, especially its power to modify perceptions of what exists and even to create an alternative, transcendent reality in the reader's mind. Anna Szirõky's published version of her dissertation builds on much of this research, as she investigates three themes that have fascinated Gottfried scholars (e.g., Jackson, Bekker, Schnell) for years. She envisions the structure of her work as a triangle, the "vertices " of which she designates as love, language, and music. The relationship of one "vertex " to another becomes the topic of each major section of the study. Her stated goal is to demonstrate that Gottfried's conscious use of language as the vehicle for representing love between Tristan and Isolde reflects a structure that becomes discernible when brought into relationship with the author's representation of music.

Christopher R. Clason
Oakland University