Symposium Abstract

Bethany Townsend

Department of English Language and Literature

Playing with God’s Secrets: Chaucer as Medieval Literary Critic

Although contemporary audiences tend to view medieval literature as simplistic both in terms of its formal and philosophical characteristics, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales reveals an oddly postmodern ambivalence about the role of literature in society. Chaucer’s linguistic play with polysemous medieval words disrupts the prevalent Augustinian literary theory dictating a solely moral value in writing. Consequently, Chaucer helps to open up the realm of Western fiction to new imaginative and aesthetic possibilities.

Session A — 9:30 a.m. — Gallery II.