Book Series Disputatio, vol. 13

John Gower

Manuscripts, Readers, Contexts

Malte Urban (ed)

  • Pages: 242 p.
  • Size:160 x 240 mm
  • Illustrations:15 b/w
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2010

  • € 55,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-52470-2
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  • ISBN: 978-2-503-53749-8
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Review(s)

"In conclusion, this is a book Gower scholars will want to read and medievalists more generally will wish to consult depending upon their disciplinary interests.  (...) the accessible essays have brought added contexts to class discussion with my students and will be valuable to anyone interested in the newest research on Gower. (Kim Zarins in: The Medieval Review, 11.05.05)

Summary

The essays collected here represent the current state of research into the works of John Gower, poet, philosopher, and contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. They assess Gower's literary output within the context of manuscript production and readership/ownership in late medieval England and the triangle of Latin, French, and English as literary and official languages in Ricardian England. Sections of the volume focus on manuscripts and the circulation of Gower's works in languages other than English. In addition, the literary and philosophical contexts that inform Gower's poetics and politics are considered here, resulting in readings of the poet's rhetorical and ethical agenda as well as his texts' intervention in and reaction to social outsiders in his contemporary London. A wide variety of critical discourses inform the readings presented here, including medieval English, French, and Latin literary studies, art history, manuscript production and reception, postmodern ethics, and historical studies.