This monograph arose from thinking about the literary tradition as described by the Anglo American modernist writers Ezra Pound and T S Eliot In their view the tradition of European love lyrics crystallized in the work of the medieval Occitan troubadours who represented the cultural and political milieu of the Occitanie of that period and whose work reflected the religious influences of Judaism Christianity and Islam Nowadays it is not surprising that contemporary artists draw on the troubadour poets and that they are even contrasted with them by critics Such is the case of Leonard Cohen who during his career revealed erudition in medieval poetry and religion and whose work shows many parallels with the work of his Occitan predecessors
