Gower's Dark Materials

Sponsoring Organization(s)

John Gower Society

Organizer Name

Brian Gastle

Organizer Affiliation

Western Carolina Univ.

Presider Name

Roger A. Ladd

Presider Affiliation

Univ. of North Carolina-Pembroke

Paper Title 1

Dark Money: Gower and "Blinde Avarice"

Presenter 1 Name

Craig E. Bertolet

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Auburn Univ.

Paper Title 2

Gower, Translation, and the Force of a Word

Presenter 2 Name

Charles Wuest

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Averett Univ.

Paper Title 3

Standing in the Dark: Sloth and Stability, Paralysis and Perseverance in Book IV of the Confessio amantis

Presenter 3 Name

Andrea Schutz

Presenter 3 Affiliation

St. Thomas Univ.

Paper Title 4

Gower's Dark Lady

Presenter 4 Name

Matthew W. Irvin

Presenter 4 Affiliation

Univ. of the South

Start Date

10-5-2018 1:30 PM

Session Location

Schneider 1135

Description

Gower’s Dark Materials

Over six hundred years ago, Chaucer put Troilus and Criseyde under the correction of his friend, "moral Gower." A limited (and limiting) interpretation of the adjective has proven difficult to shake, despite possible conflicting elements a thoughtful study of his works might reveal. This session seeks to broaden that interrogation into multivalent concepts of darkness. Papers are solicited that engage with and/or address one or more aspects of “darkness” in Gower’s works: color, race, horror, blindness (Gower’s or others’), or the medieval sin of accidia; equally, they could engage with the way light (reason, virtue, good love) struggle with the dark forces in the human experience (folly, vice/sin, fol delit). Considerations of broad topics, e.g., the "darker" aspects of medieval orientalism, emotion theory, disability studies, material culture, and sensory theory, as informative about Gower's poetry, are equally welcome.

Brian Gastle