The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between medieval literature and architecture. I’m hoping to find out whether the images of architectural structures in the works of...Show moreThe purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between medieval literature and architecture. I’m hoping to find out whether the images of architectural structures in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer are true to what they would have looked like in the Middle Ages, or if they were based on earlier architecture styles or even based on merely his imagination. The main research questions for this thesis will be: how does Chaucer depict the built environment and use structures in his works? What effect does the use of structures and space have on the creation of a narrative? Did his travels to Europe influence the kind of structures he created? The main focus will be on the tower, temples and theatre in The Knight’s Tale, the three structures in House of Fame, and the city and domestic structures in Troilus and Criseyde.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
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Despite the fact that there have been recent attempts to broaden ekphrasis into its antique and medieval sense, these attempts have not taken the concept of living presence into account. My thesis...Show moreDespite the fact that there have been recent attempts to broaden ekphrasis into its antique and medieval sense, these attempts have not taken the concept of living presence into account. My thesis takes this more generous sense of ekphrasis as a point of departure. I draw on the attitudes of Christianity towards the representation of the divinity in verbal and visual terms (including the Eucharist) to argue that there are fundamental differences between the two media. The concept of living presence response is introduced as a tool to analyse the agency of the visual representations upon the worshippers. Drawing on works from Geoffrey Chaucer and on the anonymous Piers the Plowman's Crede, I suggest that the broad sense of ekphrasis should be further enlarged to include any textual attempts to reproduce, or any textual awareness of, living presence response. This inclusion, in turn, must encompass the role of the receiver in allowing the effects to occur in the first place. I challenge two claims: that ekphrasis is a narcissistic mode of literary discourse; that Chaucer is paying homage to the inseparability of different media. Recommendations for further research include the investigation of whether there is a correlation between ekphrasis viewed as lifelikeness and iconoclastic periods, on the one hand, and between living presence response and medieval theories of sight, such as Roger Bacon's, on the other.Show less
