1st Edition
The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower
The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower reviews the most current scholarship on the late medieval poet and opens doors purposefully to research areas of the future. It is divided into three parts. The first part, "Working theories: medieval and modern," is devoted to the main theoretical aspects that frame Gower’s work, ranging from his use of medieval law, rhetoric, theology, and religious attitudes, to approaches incorporating gender and queer studies. The second part, "Things and places: material cultures," examines the cultural locations of the author, not only from geographical and political perspectives, or in scientific and economic context, but also in the transmission of his poetry through the materiality of the text and its reception. "Polyvocality: text and language," the third part, focuses on Gower’s trilingualism, his approach to history, and narratological and intertextual aspects of his works. The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower is an essential resource for scholars and students of Gower and of Middle English literature, history, and culture generally.
CONTENTS
List of Figures
Introduction: Gower Scholarship Then and Now
PART I - WORKING THEORIES: MEDIEVAL AND MODERN
- Gower and Theory: Old Books, New Matters
Jonathan Hsy, The George Washington University - Gower and Gender
María Bullón-Fernández, Seattle University - Gower and Rhetoric
Kim Zarins, California State University at Sacramento - Gower’s Religions
R.F. Yeager, University of West Florida - John Gower and the Law: Legal Theory and Practice
Conrad van Dyk, Concordia University of Edmonton - John Gower’s Manuscripts in Middle English
Joe Fredell, Southeastern Louisiana University - Gower’s French Manuscripts
Craig E. Bertolet, Auburn University - Gower’s Latin Manuscripts
Stephanie Batkie, University of the South - Iberian Manuscripts of Gower’s Works
Ana Sáez-Hidalgo, University of Valladolid - Illuminations in Gower’s Manuscripts
Joyce Coleman, University of Oklahoma - Gower’s Southwark
Martha Carlin, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - Gower’s Courts
Matthew Giancarlo, University of Kentucky - Gower, Business, and Economy
Roger Ladd, University of North Carolina at Pembroke - Gower and Science
Russell A. Peck, University of Rochester - Gower’s Reception, 1400–1700
Robert R. Edwards, Pennsylvania State University - Iberian Gower
Clara Pascual-Argente, Rhodes College - Gower’s Languages
Tim Machan, University of Notre Dame - Voices and Narrators
Matthew W. Irvin, University of the South - Gower and the Forms of History
Steele Nowlin, Hampden-Sydney College - Gower’s Classicizing Vocations
Andrew Galloway, Cornell University - Gower and Romance
Corinne Saunders, Durham University - Gower and Chaucer
Brian Gastle, Western Carolina University - The French Works: The Ballades
Peter Nicholson, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa - The French Works: Mirour de l’Omme
Craig E. Bertolet, Auburn University - English Works
Yoshiko Kobayashi, University of Tokyo - The Latin Works
Robert Meindl, California State University, Sacramento
PART II – THINGS AND PLACES: MATERIAL CULTURES
PART III – POLYVOCALITY: TEXT AND LANGUAGE
Notes on Contributors
Biography
Ana Sáez-Hidalgo is Associate Professor at the Universidad de Valladolid, Spain.
Brian Gastle is Professor of English at Western Carolina University, USA.
R.F. Yeager is Professor of English at the University of West Florida, USA.
"This impressive work is the most comprehensive monograph on Gower up to date."
- Amanda Roi-Marin, University of Cambridge, UK
"The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower is a rich contribution to the ¿eld of Gower studies, one whose scope is laudably ambitious. Among the collection’s strengths are its efforts to foreground the trilingual, transnational, and manuscript contexts of the po-et’s work and legacy. These chapters offer an invitation to new conversations and suggest av-enues for future research. Gower studies, as this collection witnesses, continues to grow, transform, and respond to contemporary scholarly concerns; the poet’s multilingual legacy, now as much as ever, occupies a meaningful place in our ¿eld in the midst of a mutable, di-vided, and ever-renewing world."
- Sarah V. Torres, University of Virginia, USA, Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies
