Ordine del testo e ordine del racconto nella tradizione manoscritta del Chevalier de la charrette (vv. 1-398)

The study concerns the distribution of pen-flourished letters throughout the manuscript tradition of Chrétien’s Chevalier de la Charrette, namely its initial part (vv. 1-399). The detailed comparison of paratextual indications emerging from the various manuscripts makes it possible to conclude that the distribution of pen-flourished letters reflects an implicit divisio operis by highlighting relevant narrative transitions and introducing textual segments which show internal narrative consistency. Moreover, the manuscript tradition shows strong variation in the distribution of such paratextual indications, evidencing the intrinsic plasticity of the medieval verse novel, whose textual encoding does not feature intrinsic mechanisms supporting a fixed and predetermined partitioning strategy.