No Cover Image

Journal article 927 views 180 downloads

On the edge: Chaucer and Gower’s queer glosses

Roberta Magnani Orcid Logo, Diane Watt

postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies, Volume: 9, Issue: 3, Pages: 269 - 288

Swansea University Author: Roberta Magnani Orcid Logo

Abstract

In this article Diane Watt and I focus on a number of manuscript glosses accompanying the tale of Constance in Chaucer's The Man of Law's Tale and in Gower's Tale of Constance in Confessio Amantis. By applying queer theory to the paratextual apparatus of these manuscripts, we shed new...

Full description

Published in: postmedieval: a journal of medieval cultural studies
ISSN: 2040-5960 2040-5979
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2018
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38998
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Abstract: In this article Diane Watt and I focus on a number of manuscript glosses accompanying the tale of Constance in Chaucer's The Man of Law's Tale and in Gower's Tale of Constance in Confessio Amantis. By applying queer theory to the paratextual apparatus of these manuscripts, we shed new light on the anxieties about authority and authorship shared by Chaucer and Gower (and their circles of collaborators). We also reevaluate the role of error and manuscripts variants, and argue for the queer pleasure provided by misprision and misinterpretation. This helps us to move away from patriarchal constructs on canon formation and manuscript transmission.
Keywords: medieval literature; gender thoery; queer thoery; manuscript studies; book history
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Issue: 3
Start Page: 269
End Page: 288