The Wi-Fi of Bath.

This to me seems appropriate. In the day and age in which people are obsessed with material possessions we should stop to pause and assess the situation. Whereas now husbands and wives often grapple with time spent on phones, computers, and smart phones, all the Wife of Bath wanted was a little less consternation and a little more freedom. Ahhh where time has gone.

This one's going out to Erin Riley tonite.

The Franklin's Tale.

"A ship al steerelees:" religion & identity in the Man of Law's Tale

At a recent conference on medieval studies at Catholic University, a presenter addressed the relationships between daughters and fathers in The Canterbury Tales; in treating the Man of Law's Tale, she talked about the "dangerous space" that a daughter inhabits in transit from her father's house to her husband's house. Another paper at the conference, delivered by our own Usha Vishnuvajjala, addressed the life of Margery Kempe, who was able to construct a new identity-- outside of the one prescribed to her as a woman-- through religiosity. These two presentations together got me thinking about the way in which Custance is able to consolidate a self-determined identity as a "doghter of hooly chirche (675), a "doghter of [Christ's] chirche (567), only by inhabiting this watery middle space between daughter (of her earthly father) and wife. Even as a mother, Custance has the freedom to communicate or keep secret her paternally- or matrimonially-defined identity: "But what she was she wolde no man seye, / For foul ne fair, thogh that she sholde deye" (524-25).

I'm interested in the element of self-determination in the Man of Law's Tale primarily because Custance-- "born to thraldom and penance" (286)-- actually seems like the least self-determining person ever, except for maybe Griselda. What do other people think? If Custance's religiosity can be seen as an expression of agency (even subversion?) in the social structure that assigns her roles based on her relationships with men-- how do we understand Alla's mother's religiously-motivated grab for power?

This amazing spam-fest is winding down.

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Here is a beautiful illustration of the "ship al steerelees"-- Constance by Albert Pinkham Ryder:

The Canterbury Tales & Rap

So, a rap remix of the Canterbury Tales would already be pretty sweet, but I especially wanted to present for your meditation what rapper Baba Brinkman sees as pronounced continuity between hip-hop and the CT:

The most remarkable analogies I found between Chaucer and hip-hop were not only historical, however; they were also reflected explicitly in the organizational structure of The Canterbury Tales. The text consists of a collection of stories that Chaucer wrote over the course of about fifteen years towards the end of his life. Some of the Tales were apparently composed before he began the compilation, while others were obviously tailor-made for the project. To bring all of these different stories together into one, Chaucer creates a fictional company of pilgrims riding on horseback from London to Canterbury, who all decide to play a game to help pass the time along the way: a storytelling contest. Each tale represents an entry in the contest by one of the pilgrims, and Chaucer ascribes certain personality traits to each of them, which are then reflected in the tale. What begins on the surface as a religious pilgrimage soon takes a profane turn when the stories become a vehicle for challenges and insults aimed at the other pilgrims. Chaucer employs the competition as a unifying principle, and also as a device to expose social tensions among the pilgrims, while showcasing their different storytelling techniques and levels of ability.

The clearest analogy for this storytelling contest model in hip-hop culture is the phenomenon of the freestyle battle, a live performance event that underlies the majority of recorded rap lyrics either in style or content. By definition, a freestyle is a rap that is unwritten and unrehearsed, composed by the rapper in the moment of performance, with rhymes that are improvised on beat and, when required, on topic. A freestyle battle is when two or more rappers compete in this way head to head, using punch lines, boasts, and insults to out-rhyme and outwit their opponents. The two terms aren’t interchangeable though, since written rhymes are sometimes used in battles, and freestyles are often simple demonstrations of ability rather than direct competitions. Freestyle and battling perform the same function in hip-hop culture as Chaucer’s storytelling competition does in The Canterbury Tales, dramatizing social tensions among rappers and showcasing different techniques and levels of ability. These systems were developed in response to the particular conditions of hip-hop’s genesis.

The frame for Brinkman's rewrite is a rap fan stumbling onto a tour bus that takes off unexpectedly toward the next venue; the rappers on the bus agree to pass the time by battling with the MC assuming the role of the Host. You can read the rest of the introduction for Brinkman's The Rap Canterbury Tales here; I def. recommend listening to the provided song samples, and you can see part of Brinkman's adaptation of the Pardoner's Tale here.

In a burst of ill-advised pride, the first
Of the three rioters replied, "This guy
Is a spy, or worse! I guess Death is his master,
And gives him everlasting life forever after,
A benevolent benefactor, perhaps, to have protecting you,
But nothing gets a confession faster than weapons do!"

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On a related note:

Religious recasting in the Clerk's Tale

The day our class read the Clerk's Tale, there was some discussion about how the story could possibly work as a religious fable, and I have reflected upon that for a (long, distracted) moment. I don't think it is possible to understand the story of Griselda and Walter as a prescription for Christians to react with patience, humility and long-suffering (Griselda) to the tests of an inscrutable God (Walter)-- Griselda is too superhuman, Walter is too much of a douche, and the Clerk disclaims that "For greet skile is [God] that he wroghte, / But he ne tempteth no man that he boghte" (1152-53).

I do think, however, that the text suggests in several places a recasting of fable in which Griselda can be understood as a loving, enduring Christ figure and Walter as the faltering but forgiven Christian.

We know that Griselda was a shepherdess, "meke and stille" as "a lamb" (538) and committed to her "fadres reverence (231). Furthermore:

So wise and rype wordes hadde she,
And juggementz of so greet equitee,
That she from hevene sent was, as men wende,
Peple to save and every wrong t'amende (438-441).

Though depicting Griselda's first encounter with Walter, the following lines resonate with images of Jesus in Gethsemane:

And doun upon hir knes she gan to falle,
And with sad contenance kneleth stille,
Til she had herd what was the lordes wille (292-294).

as these lines do with images of the Trinity:

This thoghtful markys spak unto this mayde
Ful sobrely, and seyde in this manere:
"Where is youre fader, O Grisildis?" he sayde.
And she with reverence, in humble cheere,
Answerde, "Lord, he is al redy heere" (295-299).

Compared with Walter, who "in somme thynges... was to blame" (76) and "on his lust present was al his thoght" (80), Griselda makes a far more compelling vessel for divinity and beatitude. The Clerk's Tale then becomes the story of the faulty, perverse and petulant inclinations of mankind and Christ's patient love for the transgressor. In any event, I think such a recasting would make the whole story kind of-- less horrible.

What do you guys think? HOT OR NOT

no redeeming value what so ever

I swore next time I posted, I would say something that at least came close to being intellectual.

So much for THAT. Maybe tomorrow. I do plan on boring you with some babbling on my final paper (we should swap, and bore each other!) so...prepare yourself.

In the mean time, I personally feel that more people should make comics with Chaucer in it. I don't know why anyone hasn't yet. Or why no one has turned the entirety of The Canterbury Tales, or parts of it, into a comic. It would be fascin

ating. So many editions are illustrated, as I discussed earlier in the semester, and even though I personally think the illustrations are distracting when trying to read the tales, a comic book could just be...fun? I have no legitimate reason for wanting someone to make one, really, beyond that 'it would be cool.'

Anyway, since it's the beginning of finals week and we all deserve a laugh, have this Chaucer comic courtesy of Hark! A Vagrant

Ah, just kidding, comic is too big for Blogger to handle, click here to see it!

I think it's hilarious the cartoonist drew Chaucer the way he is depicted in that portrait we've all now seen a hundred times. Is that the only existing documentation of what Chaucer looked like? It's everywhere, seriously. Obviously I prefer to think of Chaucer the pilgrim looking different than Chaucer the author, I don't quite know why, for some reason when I read the tales I imagine them as separate entities that look differently. Let's now dwell in my psychosis, though.

(I honestly can't think of anything worse then a millionth day trip to Canterbury with beat poets. I don't know. There could be something worse. But I can't think of any right now...)

Holy Anachronism, Batman

I stumbled upon this a while ago, and meant to post it, and forgot. Because I have the memory of a goldfish. Anyway.

In this gadget filled era, what is one to do when one stumbles upon a word in Middle English in the works of Chaucer and one is without access to a decent Middle English dictionary? Fear not, because there is now a Chaucer Dictionary app for your iPod/iPhone.

I wish I were kidding. I'm not, here's the link to the app in the AppStore. And here is a handy screencap I made of it, if you don't want to actually scope out the link:

I wonder, is anyone out there willing to fork over the .99 cents to see if this app is worth it? I wonder how accurate it is, too, its translations. How useful it would actually be, as a dictionary.

This would have probably been more useful if I'd posted it earlier in the semester, as I intended. Sorry about that! But hey, just in case you have any last minute, er, Chaucer dictionary needs...right, here we are.

Part of me is thrilled Chaucer is being recognized, in even a tiny way, like this. Most of me is perplexed by the paradox of having a Middle English dictionary on my futuristic super phone. It's like whenever they act out classic novels on the holodeck on Star Trek.

I'm in serious danger of nerding myself into oblivion, so, time to move on.

Continuing my theme of Chaucer and technology, I've gotten addicted to the few audio recordings available at the VMI website. It was especially helpful in the beginning of the semester when I was adjusting to the Middle English. I had been hoping there'd be an audio book of all the tales in Middle English, but so far, no luck. I'm usually against audio books, too, I think they're for old people or people who fall asleep when they read (like my Mother, don't ask, long, long story). But I've been using the VMI website a lot lately as I prepare to recite, badly, Middle English for class.

I had high hopes for this post when I started, but it's rapidly losing all coherency. Better end now, then, while I still have a shred of self respect.