"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.