The Author's Address to the Reader: Chaucer, Juan Ruiz, and Dante

Author / Editor
Wood, Chauncey.

Title
The Author's Address to the Reader: Chaucer, Juan Ruiz, and Dante

Published
Patrick J. Gallacher and Helen Damico, eds. Hermeneutics and Medieval Culture (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), pp. 51-60.

Description
"Medieval authors mistrusted their readers' potential responses and felt obliged to direct that response accordingly"; in medieval literature, the author's address to the reader was "a device to activate the critical intelligence, while deactivating the affections."

Alternative Title
Hermeneutics and Medieval Culture.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.