Congenial Souls: Reading Chaucer from Medieval to Postmodern (Medieval Cultures (Hardcover))

John Dryden claimed to share a kindred spirit, a congenial soul, with Geoffrey Chaucer, and he was not alone. Reading critics reading Chaucer, Stephanie Trigg makes us privy to the special communities-modeled on the pilgrimage to Canterbury-that rose up around the author as commentators through the ages sought spiritual or emotional intimacy with him. Congenial Souls surveys the critical literature from the late Middle Ages to the contemporary period to show how editors and critics constructed various voices as a response-even a supplement-to Chaucer's work. Focusing on turning points in the history of Chaucerian discourse and in the construction of a special Chaucerian community, Trigg arrives at the fraught notion of a critical community in our day. What, she asks, do feminist studies or contemporary cultural studies portend for such an author-based literary communion? And, if Chaucer is the original "dead white male" author, what will happen to Chaucer studies and medieval studies in the next millennium? The moment is propitious, Trigg suggests, for Chaucerians to examine their own critical history and its inherent contradictions. Richly informed, her work creates a strong basis for such an examination. Stephanie Trigg is senior lecturer in English at the University of Melbourne. Medieval Cultures Series, volume 30 John Dryden claimed to share a kindred spirit, a congenial soul, with Geoffrey Chaucer, and he was not alone. Reading critics reading Chaucer, Stephanie Trigg makes us privy to the special communities-modeled on the pilgrimage to Canterbury-that rose up around the author as commentators through the ages sought spiritual or emotional intimacy with him.

Congenial Souls surveys the critical literature from the late Middle Ages to the contemporary period to show how editors and critics constructed various voices as a response-even a supplement-to Chaucer's work. Focusing on turning points in the history of Chaucerian discourse and in the construction of a special Chaucerian community, Trigg arrives at the fraught notion of a critical community in our day. What, she asks, do feminist studies or contemporary cultural studies portend for such an author-based literary communion? And, if Chaucer is the original "dead white male" author, what will happen to Chaucer studies and medieval studies in the next millennium? The moment is propitious, Trigg suggests, for Chaucerians to examine their own critical history and its inherent contradictions. Richly informed, her work creates a strong basis for such an examination.

Stephanie Trigg is senior lecturer in English at the University of Melbourne.

Congenial Souls surveys the critical literature from the late Middle Ages to the contemporary period to show how editors and critics constructed various voices as a response -- even a supplement -- to Chaucer's work. Concentrating on turning points in the history of this discourse and in the creation of a special Chaucerian community, Trigg arrives at the fraught notion of a critical community in our day. What, she asks, do feminist studies or cultural studies portend for such an author-based literary communion? And if Chaucer is the original "dead white male" author, what will happen to Chaucer studies and medieval studies in the new millennium? The moment is propitious, Trigg suggests, for Chaucerians to investigate their own critical history and its inherent contradictions. Richly informed, her work establishes a strong basis for such an examination. Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 12 Introduction: The Congenial Souls of Chaucer and His Readers......Page 14 I. Speaking for Chaucer: Canon and Community......Page 26 2. Signing Geoffrey Chaucer: Models of Authorship......Page 65 3. Writing Chaucer: The Fifteenth Century......Page 99 4. Loving Chaucer in the Privacy of Print: The Sixteenth Century......Page 134 5. Translating Chaucer for Modernity......Page 169 6. Reading Chaucer outside the Academy......Page 182 7. Reforming the Chaucerian Community: The Late Twentieth Century......Page 220 Notes......Page 264 C......Page 298 G......Page 301 M......Page 302 P......Page 303 S......Page 304 Y......Page 305 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Abbreviations 12 Introduction: The Congenial Souls of Chaucer and His Readers 14 I. Speaking for Chaucer: Canon and Community 26 2. Signing Geoffrey Chaucer: Models of Authorship 65 3. Writing Chaucer: The Fifteenth Century 99 4. Loving Chaucer in the Privacy of Print: The Sixteenth Century 134 5. Translating Chaucer for Modernity 169 6. Reading Chaucer outside the Academy 182 7. Reforming the Chaucerian Community: The Late Twentieth Century 220 Notes 264 Index 298 A 298 B 298 C 298 D 301 E 301 F 301 G 301 H 302 I 302 J 302 K 302 L 302 M 302 N 303 O 303 P 303 Q 304 R 304 S 304 T 305 U 305 V 305 W 305 Y 305 Chaucer has been a persistently popular subject for editors, scholars and readers. This detailed and often challenging study, parts of which have been published before or presented as lectures, examines the changing nature of Chaucerian studies and the significance of Chaucer's works as a bridge between the medieval and modern worlds. The `congenial souls' are Chaucer's readers, a `Chaucerian community' from which no one is excluded.