Vom Tod ins Leben

This article examines the literary representation of birth and death in Kunz Kistener’s fourteenth-century narrative ‘Die Jakobsbrüder’. The novel centres precarious transitions, such as birth or death during pilgrimage and lethal illness. Fidelity closely links birth and death in the narrative. By what means are the liminal states of birth and death represented? What are the consequences of the transition, and what role does the fidelity play in it? It will be shown that the narration of liminal states is able to represent the value of fidelity by illustrating the attitudes of the protagonists and to open up spaces of possibility.