Generic Variations on the Theme of Poetic and Civic Authority

Author / Editor
Cooper, Helen.

Title
Generic Variations on the Theme of Poetic and Civic Authority

Published
Piero Boitani and Anna Torti, eds. Poetics: Theory and Practice in Medieval English Literature (Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk: D. S. Brewer, 1991), pp. 83-103.

Description
Examines the equation of political and poetic authority in the works of Chaucer and his contemporaries. Historical romance tends to legitimize political authority and to cite poetic authority, while the fabliau pretends to chronicle true occurences and hence does not cite poetic authority.

Alternative Title
Poetics: Theory and Practice in Medieval English Literature.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.