Chaucer and Langland: The Antagonistic Tradition

Description: Chaucer's preeminence over Langland is an effect of historical and social forces and must be revised, because tradition is a conflicted notion that helps construct understanding of past, present, and future. Chaucer was a medium of this process, "the literary 'first mover' meant to generate succession and guarantee cultural continuity."; Topics include destabilization of Chaucer as origin of the tradition; naming as a source of his authority; appropriation of Langland by various forces in history as opposed to a "coherent, self-conscious" attempt by Hoccleve and Lydgate to establish Chaucer as "father" so that they might inherit the tradition; and the role of print culture in establishing reputations of each author. Bowers focuses on CT generally, with some attention to CkT, the Host, MkT, ParsT, and TC.

Chaucer Subjects: Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations.; Canterbury Tales--General.; Cook and His Tale.; Monk and His Tale.; Parson and His Tale.; Troilus and Criseyde.