Exorbitante Helden? Figurendarstellung im mittelhochdeutschen Heldenepos

Abstract

Exorbitance is not a quality inherent to heroes as such but arises through narrative attribution, both intra- and extradiegetic. The phantasm of exorbitance manifests in various ways: heroic or pragmatic, constructive or destructive, exemplary or reprehensible, but always exceeding the ordinary. The excess is of course breached from time to time ‘post heroically’, through pragmatization, serialization and comical rendering. In Middle High German heroic epic, heroes do not function as role models for identity-building. Memoria is set up for retelling rather than for imitation, at the same time constructing and breaking down exorbitance.