# Framing the Canterbury Tales: Chaucer and the Medieval Frame Narrative Tradition - Hardcover

by **Katharine S. Gittes** (Author)

A clear emphasis on literary antecedents of the _Canterbury Tales_ differentiates this book from most criticism of Chaucer's work. Katharine S. Gittes finds a blending of two frame narrative traditions in the _Canterbury Tales_, one that originated in India and the Near East and the other in ancient Greece. To illustrate this dual literary tradition, Gittes compares Chaucer's work to a selection of pre-Chaucerian frame narratives that influenced his form directly or indirectly, and other narratives contemporary with Chaucer, that, in their likenesses or differences, illuminate the methodology of the Canterbury Tales.

Covering materials written in eight different languages, _Framing the Canterbury Tales_ includes discussion of the Indian-Arabic _Panchatantra_, Boccaccio's _Decameron_, Gower's _Confessio Amantis_, and both Eastern and Western versions of the _Book of Sinbad_. Gittes addresses the relationship between the framing stories and the tales, the degree of open-endedness in theme and structure, aesthetic principles, didactic elements, the significance of prologues and epilogues, the travel/pilgrimmage motif, the function of the narrator, and the degree of characterization in both Eastern and Western frame narratives. An examination of Eastern and Western elements in Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_ reveals the existing tension between the two, and the ingenious way Chaucer responds to and makes the most of this tension. Eastern features include the open-endedness, the random ordering of tales, and the mode of narration; Western elements include the dramatic features, the grouping or pairing of tales, the symmetry and the recurring motifs. In examining different cultural outlooks and a variety of different, non-literary disciplines, Gittes expands the field of Chaucer criticism. Her book will interest students and scholars of diverse cultures and literary periods, as well as Chaucer enthusiasts.

### Author Biography

KATHARINE S. GITTES is Associate Professor of English at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She has published several articles on frame narratives, including _Gower's Confessio Amantis_ and _Chaucer's Canterbury Tales_.

**Number of Pages:** 184

**Dimensions:** 0.56 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN

**Publication Date:** July 30, 1991

## Details

- **Price:** 144.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 144.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Framing the Canterbury Tales: Chaucer and the Medieval Frame Narrative Tradition - Hardcover
- Framing the Canterbury Tales: Chaucer and the Medieval Frame Narrative Tradition - Hardcover

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