Cute Chaucer.

Author / Editor
Kao, Wan-Chuan.

Title
Cute Chaucer.

Published
Exemplaria 30 (2018): 147-71.

Description
Drawing on the superflat movement in Japanese contemporary art, argues that cuteness in Th effects a compression of the text's narrative layers and semiotic networks. Mirroring the horizontal, non-linear organization of the poem's layout in medieval manuscripts, desire moves sideways across Th. Reading Th through cuteness shifts critical attention to questions of aesthetics and affect. Claims that features such as infantilization and feminization trigger both tender caretaking and sadistic aggression; the cute object is paradoxically held gently and squeezed violently.

Chaucer Subjects
Tale of Sir Thopas
Manuscripts and Textual Studies