Shifting Perspectives: The Narrative Strategy in Hartmann's “Erec” *

This essay on Hartmann von Aue's Erec traces related changes in the protagonist and in the narrative perspective. Initially, the narrator's use of psycho‐narration and commentary provides access to Erec's inner qualities and reflections; the reader's familiarity with the protagonist in the opening episodes parallels the latter's unproblematic relationship with society. When Erec becomes estranged from his court and Enite, the narrator's stance shifts accordingly. During the Prubefahrt , the prevailing mode of narration, reportage, reveals no more about Erec's state of mind than does Erec himself. As a result, Erec's behavior in this section remains as much of a mystery to the reader as to the other characters in the story. As Erec overcomes his isolation in the final episodes, both the protagonist and the narrator provide insight into the source of Erec's problem: The narrator penetrates Erec's exterior, while the protagonist becomes more talkative and willing to discuss the nature of his difficulties. And yet the lesson to be learned from Erec's experiences becomes explicit only when he himself expresses it to Mabonagrin. Thus Hartmann places us in a situation analogous to that of his protagonist: Erec's insights become our insights. Like Erec, we proceed from ignorance to a new understanding of the knight's proper relationship to society.