Description
Book SynopsisNew essays on aspects of Gower's poetry, viewed through the lens of the self and beyond. The topics of "selfhood" and "otherness" lie at the heart of these new assessments of John Gower's poetry. The first part of the book, on knowing the self and others, focuses on cognition, brain functions, imagination, and the internal and external factors that affect one's sense of being, from sensation and inner emotive effects within body parts to cosmic perspectives, morality, and theology as voiced by language and storytelling. The second, on the essence of strangers, explores the interconnections of sensation and aesthetics; it also considers kinds of social dysfunction, whether through racial or gender conflict, or religious and political warfare.The final part of the booklooks at social ethics and ethical poets, reassessing two of Gower's perpetual concerns: honest government and honest craft. It considers Gower as a constitutional thinker, whether in terms of law, judicial corruption, or a society of businessmen who would rewrite ethics in terms of business models. It concludes with an examination of the Confessio in the culture of Portugal and Spain. Russell Peck is the John Hall Deane Professor of English at the University of Rochester: R. F. Yeager is Professor of English at the University of West Florida. Contributors: Stephanie L. Batkie, Helen Cooper, Brian W. Gastle, Matthew Giancarlo, Matthew W. Irvin, Yoshiko Kobayashi, Robert J. Meindl, Peter Nicholson, Maura Nolan, Gabrielle Parkin, Russell A. Peck, Ana Sáez-Hidalgo, Larry Scanlon, Karla Taylor, Kim Zarins, R.F. Yeager,
Trade ReviewEach essay does one or more of the following: break new ground, deepen our awareness of the sophistication and originality of Gower's poetry, and expand our understanding of Gower's historical, cultural, and literary contexts and his place in them. * SPECULUM *
This substantial, well-edited, and approachable collection of essays covers a number of the topics in which Gower studies is proliferating. . . . The collection will be a boon to medieval literary criticism generally. * CHOICE *
The volume presents a broad range of interpretations pertaining to diverse aspects of Gower's trilingual oeuvre and demonstrates the sheer variety of approaches that Gower scholars are now pursuing. * YEAR'S WORK IN ENGLISH STUDIES *
This collection, arising from the Society's third triennial congress in 2014, richly demonstrates the interest of his oeuvre and the intellectual liveliness of Gower studies. * PARERGON *
Table of ContentsIntroduction - Robert F. Yeager and Russell Peck The Materiality of Cognition in Reading, Staging, and Regulation of Brain and Heart Activities in Gower's Confessio Amantis - Russell Peck The Sound of My Voice: Aurality and Credible Faith in the Vox Clamantis - Stephanie L. Batkie "Noght withoute peine": Chastity, Complaint, and Lucrece's Vox Clamantis - Matthew W. Irvin Reading Faces in Gower and Chaucer - Karla Taylor Gower and Mortality: The Ends of Storytelling - Helen Cooper Sensation and the Plain Style in John Gower's Confessio Amantis - Maura Nolan Violence without Warning: Sympathetic Villains and Gower's Crafting of Ovidian Narrative - Kim Zarins Gower, Lydgate, and Incest - Larry Scanlon Gower's Jews - Robert F. Yeager Letters of Old Age: The Advocacy of Peace in the Works of John Gower and Philippe de Mézières - Yoshiko Kobayashi Gower's Governmentality: Revisiting John Gower as a Constitutional Thinker and Regiminal Writer - Matthew Giancarlo Gower's Speculum Iudicis: Judicial Corruption in Book VI of the Vox Clamantis - Robert J. Meindl "The lucre of marchandie": Poet, Patron, and Payment in Gower's Confessio Amantis - Brian Gastle Hidden Matter in John Gower's Confessio Amantis - Gabrielle Parkin Writing the Cinkante Balades - Peter Nicholson Gower in Early Modern Spanish Libraries: The Missing Link - Ana Saez-Hidalgo Bibliography
