Harwood, Britton J.
Chaucer Review 6.4 (1972): 268-79.
Tallies Chaucer's modifications of his sources in ManT, especially the digressions he adds, to show that the "subject of the tale is language." In his tale, the Manciple "sneers at" people who "can be distracted from empirical reality by language,"…
Fyler, John M.
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Following an exposition of received biblical history and medieval commentaries in which the Fall and Babel represent declensions from unity and clarity, Fyler addresses Jean's Roman, Dante's Commedia, HF, SNT, and CYT intertextually and in the…
Johnston, Andrew James, Ferdinand von Mengden, and Thim Stefan, eds,
Heidelberg : Winter, 2006.
Twenty-four essays by various authors, presented as a festschrift for Klaus Dietz. Includes a wide variety of topics within German and English linguistics and medieval studies. For two essays that pertain to Chaucer; search for Language and Text…
Forty-two essays, including thirteen on Chaucer. For individual essays on Chaucer, search for Language and Style in English Literature under Alternatuive Title.
Blake, N. F.
Jacek Fisiak, ed. Studies in Middle English Linguistics (Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1997), pp. 59-78.
Fifteenth-century scribal additions and changes to manuscripts of CT indicate the "linguistic and stylistic prejudices and attitudes" of scribes and their audiences. Treats Hengwrt as a base text and explores how changes in Ellesmere, British…
Speed, Diane.
Geraldine Barnes, John Gunn, Sonya Jensen, and Lee Jobling, eds. Words and Wordsmiths: A Volume for H. L. Rogers (Sydney: University of Sydney, 1989): pp. 119-36.
A study of language in PhyT reveals intricate patterns of cohesion among elements sometimes regarded as disparate. The text invites the reader to consider several ethical and literary issues.
Keiser, George R.
Chaucer Review 12 (1977): 147-61.
Characters in ShT use imprecise language such as swearing to obscure the meaning of their actions. The narrator, who uses similar language, and fails to notice the implications of his tale, resembles the pilgrim of uncertain identity in the Endlink…
Pearsall, Derek.
Nigel Saul, ed. The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), pp. 245-76.
Surveys English language and literature from the Anglo-Saxon invasions to Thomas Malory, briefly discussing Chaucer as a court poet and as the one who brought "England fully into the stream of contemporary French and Italian poetry," making English…
Johnson, Ian.
Chris Given-Wilson, ed. An Illustrated History of Late Medieval England (Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1996), pp. 127-51.
A survey of genres and topics in Middle English literature, including Chaucer's "diversity of literary forms and [the] strategies he took to negotiate literary authority."
Wogan-Browne, Jocelyn, and others, eds.
Woodbridge, Suffolk; and Rochester, N.Y.: York Medieval Press, 2009.
Thirty-four essays by various authors (and an introduction by the editor) on a variety of linguistic and literary topics. Essays are arranged in four categories: (1) Language and Socio-Linguistics; (2) Crossing the Conquest: New Linguistic and…
Blank, Claudia, and others, eds.
Frankfurt-on-Main, Bern, New York, and Paris: Peter Lang, 1992
A collection of 100 essays on linguistic topics categorized as diachronic linguistics, linguistics and cultural studies, computer linguistics, varieties of English, and synchronic linguistics. For individual essays that pertain to Chaucer, search for…
Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn,and Steven Justice.
New Medieval Literatures 01 (1997): 59-83.
Argues that William Langland's readership may have been more like Chaucer's (and John Gower's) than has been assumed in the past, presenting evidence that readers of these authors included scribes and bureaucratic clerks such as Thomas Usk, Thomas…
Flannery, Mary C.
Yearbook of Langland Studies 33 (2019): 231-38.
Argues that "emphasis on sound and voice" rather than visual detail characterizes "Langlandian" personifications, opening with commentary on these qualities as they are found in verse interpolations in the "unique version" of CkT "preserved in…
Kirk, Elizabeth D.
Yearbook of Langland Studies 2 (1988): 1-21.
Against the sociopolitical background of the fourteenth century, Kirk examines the Plowman as worker and religious symbol in "Piers Plowman" and Chaucer's GP.
Holsinger, Bruce W.
Studies in the Age of Chaucer 21: 99-141, 1999.
Argues that the alliterative "Choristers' Lament" is "a sophisticated but hitherto unrecognized response" to Langland's Piers Plowman. Details of the sketch of the Sergeant at Law in GP and the use of "rote" in PrT may indicate that Chaucer conceived…
Barney, Stephen A.
Kathleen M. Hewett-Smith, ed. William Langland's Piers Plowman: A Book of Essays (New York and London: Routledge, 2001), pp. 103-17.
Compares paired samples of Langland's and Chaucer's verse to argue that Langland's are superior in both sound and sense.
Kelen, Sarah A.
New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
Kelen studies the reception of William Langland and "Piers Plowman" from the early modern period to the early twentieth century. She focuses on editions of the work and the works it inspired, efforts to identify Langland and construct his biography,…
Biggar, Raymond George.
Dissertation Abstracts International 22.06 (1961): 1992.
Compares and contrasts Chaucer's and Langland's views of the "lower clergy" (monks, friars, and parish priests) in light of the "religious backgrounds" of their age, arguing that despite their stylistic differences their views are very similar in…
Cooper, Helen.
Yearbook of Langland Studies 1 (1987): 71-81.
GP was inspired by the A text of Piers Plowman, echoing its concern with estates satire, its concern with social and moral cohesion, and many of its details.
Phillips, Helen, ed.
Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1990.
Includes nineteen essays, an intoduction, a list of Hussey's publications, and a tabula gratulatoria. Topics of the essays include Langland, various mystics, religious lyrics, religious drama, and handbooks of religious instruction.
For two essays…
