Friendship and Love, Ethnics and Politics

Osterberg (history, Lund University, Sweden) gives in the annual Natalie Zemon Davis lecture an analysis of the concepts of friendship and love in medieval and Early Modern Europe. She begins with the tradition, inherited from Aristotle, Augustine and other philosophers of friendship as a bound between equals that enriches both parties. Throughout the Middle Ages, the concept of friendship as something not only emotionally satisfying but also spiritually rewarding continues. However, the belief that both parties should be of equal status was diminished. Osterberg also looks at the early lack of distinction between public and private lives and how friendship entailed social and political responsibilities. Love and friendship were linguistically the same in most languages and the line between friendship and sexual love not always easy to discern by modern readers of medieval texts. She notes how this demarcation became more pronounced only over time. The mention of friendship between women is brief. As neither Aristotle nor Augustine believed men and women could be friends with each other, little was written on the subject or on networks of women. The many examples from Swedish history are fascinating since little has appeared in English from that region. This is a fine addition to the Davis lectures. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)