Augustine, Chaucer, and the Translation of Biblical Poetics

Author / Editor
Besserman, Lawrence [L.]

Title
Augustine, Chaucer, and the Translation of Biblical Poetics

Published
Sanford Budick and Wolgang Iser, eds. The Translatability of Cultures: Figurations of the Space Between. (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1996), pp. 68-84.

Description
Augustine's emphasis on charity and cupidity in "De doctrina Christiana" and his discussion of the relations among gospel narratives in "De consensu evangelistarum" suggest that he equates secular and biblical poetics. Similarly, Chaucer justifies his poetry by connecting it with the Bible in GP, Th-MelL, and Ret, thereby linking himself to a learned tradition of Augustinian interpretation.

Contributor
Budick, Sanford, ed.
Iser, Wolfgang, ed.

Alternative Title
The Translatability of Cultures: Figurations of the Space Between.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.
General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.
Tale of Melibee.
Chaucer's Retraction.