De Rougemont and the Arabic Influence Theory

“Can it be established that Arab poesy actually influenced cortezia? Renan wrote in 1863: “An abyss separates the form and spirit of Romance poetry from the form and spirit of Arab poetry.” Another scholar, Dozy, his contemporary, declares that Arab influence upon the troubadours has not been established “and it will not be.” Today his peremptory tone makes us smile. (How often has someone written that an abyss separates Cathars and troubadours and that my contention would never established…”)

Rougemont, Denis. Love in the Western World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983. pg. 106