Chaucer and the Death of the Political Animal [Hardcover]

Drawing from classical myth, the history of philosophy, literature, film, music, and painting, Workman connects the artistic claims of Chaucer and tests them against similar gestures in the history of philosophy and literature. What results is a radical retake on Chaucer as a philosopher and poet, upending any preconceived views.

Chaucer and the Death of the Political Animal will be of interest to those who are employed in comparative approaches to literature as well as to scholars interested in Chaucers poetics and its relation to philosophical practice. It will also be a valuable book for those who wish to entertain new and imaginative ways of reading canonical poetry from the edge of scholarly tradition. (Liam Lewis, Studies in the Age of Chaucer, Vol. 38, 2016)?

Jameson S. Workman is an Independent Scholar based in the USA. Maintaining a radical, unconventional, and ambitious thesis, to say the least, Workman makes his case so fully, and with such learning and conviction, that even his most resistant readers will find themselves forced to interrogate the comfort zone of their own critical habits of mind. Whether or not Workman succeeds entirely in elevating Chaucer's poetics into the neo-Platonic sublime remains an open question. But what is certain is this: Written with boldness and panache, this wonderfully readable study articulates an interpretative position that is unique among contemporary studies - not only of Chaucer, but of medieval literature generally. (Peter W. Travis, Professor of English, Dartmouth College, USA)