2082-0984 Social Games and the Shaping of Troubadour Masculinity: Notes on Some Cases from 12th and 13th Centuries Sawczuk Michał author Correspondence to: Michał Sawczuk michal.a.sawczuk@gmail.com 22 12 2025 Tom 27, zeszyt 3 (76) 2025 373 392 Copyright © 2025 2025 This research received no specific funding. The aim of this article is to outline the characteristics of the troubadouresque model of masculinity based on cases from 12th- and 13th-century poetry.<br />The troubadouresque model of masculinity was situated against the background of two significant models: ‘knightly’ masculinity, referring to the military character of knighthood, and ‘courtly’ masculinity, emphasising the social attitude of this group. Games and plays were an important element of expressing and embodying masculinity for both of these models. However, in the case of the troubadours, the role of games seems to be much more important. The article analyses three aspects of ludicity in the troubadours’ model of masculinity: the rooting of <em>joie/joc</em> in literary language, the ludic metaphor and the role of the figure of the <em>joglar</em>. 2 La Chanson de Roland, ed. I. Short, Paris 1990. 3 Flamenca, ed. F. Zufferey, transl. V. Fasseur, Paris 2014. 4 Song of Roland, transl. Ch. K. Scott‑Moncrieff, London 1919. 6 Bec, P., Burlesque et obscénité chez les troubadours. Le contre-text au Moyen Âge, Paris 1984. 7 Boase, R., The Origin and Meaning of Courtly Love: A Critical Study of European Scholarship, Manchester 1977. 8 Caillois, R., Man, Play and Games, transl. M. Barash, Chicago 2001. 9 Camproux, C., Le Joy d’amor des troubadours, Montpellier 1965. 10 Carvalhal, H., dos Guimarães Sà I., “Knightly Masculinity, Court Games and Material Culture in Late‑medieval Portugal: The Case of Constable Alfonso (c. 1480–1504)”, Gender and History 28 (2016), no. 2, pp. 387–400. 11 Curtius, E.R., European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, transl. W.R. Trask, Princeton 2013. 12 Dragonetti, R., Le gai savoir dans la rhétorique courtoise. Flamenca et Jaufre de Poitiers, Paris 1982. 13 Duby, G., Guillaume le Maréchal ou le meilleur chevalier du monde, Paris 1986. 14 Duby, G., Les trois ordres ou l’imaginaire du féodalisme, Paris 1978. 15 Heers, J., Fêtes, jeux et joutes dans les sociétés d’Occident à la fin du Moyen Âge, Paris 1971. 16 A History of Virility, ed. A. Corbin, J. Courtine, G. Vigarello, New York 2016; Polish transl. Historia męskości, vol. 1: Od starożytności do oświecenia. Wymyślanie męskości, ed. G. Vigarello, transl. T. Stróżyński, Gdańsk 2020. 17 Huizinga, J., Homo ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture, London 1980. 18 International Medieval Bibliography Online, Leeds, Brepols, https://www.brepols.net/series/imb-o (accessed: January 19, 2025). 19 Jeanroy, A., Les chansons de Guillaume IX, duc d’Aquitaine (1071–1121), Paris 1913. 20 Keen, M., Chivalry, New Haven 1984. 21 McNamara, J.A., “The Herrenfrage: Restructuring the Gender System, 1050–1150”, in Medieval Masculinities: Regarding Men in the Middle Ages, ed. C. Lees, Minneapolis and London 1994, pp. 3–30. 22 Murray, J., “Masculinity and Male Sexuality in the Middle Ages”, in Oxford Bibliography Online in Medieval Studies, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195396584/obo-9780195396584-0251.xml (accessed: January 19, 2025). 23 Nelli, R., Ecrivains anti-conformistes du Moyen Âge Occitan, vol. 2: Hérétiques et politiques, Paris 1991. 24 Poly, J.‑P., Bournazel E., Mutation féodale (Xe–XIIe siècles), Paris 1980. 25 The Romance of Flamenca, transl. E.D. Blodgett, London 1995. 26 Sawczuk, M., “Flamenca i Radość Gry w świecie trubadurów”, Terminus 24 (2022), no. 3, pp. 259–286. 27 Skoczylas, Ł., “Hegemoniczna męskość i dywidenda patriarchatu. O społecznej teorii płci kulturowej Raewyn Connell”, Refleksje 4 (2011), pp. 11–18.