Inchol Yoo,  Challenging and Promoting Peace : - The Politics of Chaucer’s The Romaunt of the Rose    page(s): 139-163   (25 pages)

Abstract

 I discuss in this paper political implications of The Romaunt of the Rose, Chaucer’ translation from Old French. For a better understanding of Chaucer’ unique attitude toward French culture, his captivity in war against France in 1359 is discussed, which opens up the possibility of seeing Chaucer as a poet resisting the French literary culture. From this historical point of view, I argue that Chaucer the translator of the Romaunt is not just a young poet attempting to learn and imitate French cultural artifact but is the one challenging dominant French literary culture.
  Another focus of my argument is based on Anglo-Franco relations during the Hundred Years War, changing from adversarial to more peaceful one as the century approaches to its end, which could have changed the role of Chaucer’ translation to that of promoting peace between the two countries. An extensive examinations of the historical background of Deschamps’ praise of Chaucer as “rant translateur”(“reat translator” shows that the French poet’ encomium of Chaucer results less from Chaucer’ success as translator than from the necessity for the French court to make peace with the English court. In the 1390s, Chaucer’ Romaunt serves as a means of building up peaceful cultural connections between English and French courts. 
  
 저자 키워드   Key words
  
 Chaucer, The Romaunt of the Rose, translation, culture, politics, Richard II