The Making of Chaucer's English: A Study of Words

by Christopher Cannon

Overview

This book is a study of Chaucer's words. It describes how these words became evidence for calling Chaucer the "father of English poetry" but, also, why that label is wrong. It shows that Chaucer's language is, in fact, traditional and argues that his linguistic innovation was as much performance as fact. It provides a thorough history of every one of Chaucer's words and maps the origins and patterns of use that have made these words so compelling for six hundred years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521592741
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/18/1999
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Medieval Literature , #39
Pages:	452
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.29(h) x 1.14(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. A Study of Words: 1. The making of English and the English of Chaucer; 2. Traditional English; 3. The development of Chaucer's English; 4. Invented English; 5. The myth of origin and the making of Chaucer's English; Part II. Words Studied: Chaucer's writings; Chaucer's words.

Editorial Reviews

"...arguments in the book..succeed well in reading philology through a postmodern lens." Speculum

From the Publisher