Introduction

Summary

2008 marked the 600th anniversary of the death of the poet John Gower, the author of major works in French, Latin and English, and highly respected, on a level with Chaucer, in the centuries following his death. Since the late seventeenth century, and particularly for academic literary critics of the twentieth century, however, Chaucer's pre-eminence has been invidious to the study of Gower. It is only recently that a body of scholarship has begun to recognize the individual character and importance of Gower's literary influence and to re-establish his reputation. Gower has more often been discussed only for purposes of comparison by Chaucerians, or as a contextual figure in studies of Ricardian literature. It has consequently been difficult both to understand and to appreciate the shape and significance of Gower's literary achievement and influence fully.

This volume draws together essays by established medievalists and up-and-coming medieval scholars which, through their collective focus on Gower, provide a thorough exploration of the voices of this significant poet and the discourses in which he participated. This has long been needed. Inspiration for the volume comes from the hugely successful conference, 1408–2008: The Age of Gower, which was held at Queen Mary University of London, in July 2008: the conference was the first international congress devoted exclusively to Gower and attracted a large group of leading scholars from around the world, testifying to the dynamic interest in rigorous and constructive Gower research. A number of these scholars have been invited to contribute to the present volume.

Most of the essays contained in this volume are primarily literary in focus, but there are also a number of specialized studies involving translation theory, palaeography and bibliography. Gower's French and Latin works, as well as his English, are generously covered: the book is ordered in such a way as to avoid the ghettoization of Gower's French and Latin works, and to encourage comparison between them and the Confessio Amantis, which is generally more familiar to English-speaking Gower scholars.