The Open Access Companion to the "Canterbury Tales," 2017 ed. by Candace Barrington, Brantley L. Bryant, Richard H. Godden, Daniel T. Kline, and Myra Seaman

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Open Access Companion to the "Canterbury Tales," 2017 ed. by Candace Barrington, Brantley L. Bryant, Richard H. Godden, Daniel T. Kline, and Myra Seaman Lynn Shutters Candace Barrington, Brantley L. Bryant, Richard H. Godden, Daniel T. Kline, and Myra Seaman, eds. The Open Access Companion to the "Canterbury Tales," 2017. https://opencanterburytales.dsl.lsu.edu/. Chaucer companions appear in cycles, a slew of them cropping up every decade or so. As the last round of companions came out in the mid-2000s, the time is ripe for a fresh spate. What counts as "new" for a companion varies widely, running the gamut from minor revisions of a previous edition to entirely original content. Less frequently addressed [End Page 329] is the question of genre: companions typically consist of chapters governed by particular theoretical approaches (feminist Chaucer, post-colonial Chaucer, etc.), genres (Chaucer's dream visions, Chaucer and romance), or related topics (Chaucer and the Italian tradition, love and marriage in Chaucer). The persistence of this format attests to its value: rarely does one read a companion from start to finish, and a clear organizational apparatus allows readers quickly to identify chapters of interest. Every once in a while, though, a companion offers a surprisingly fresh format, as is the case with The Open Access Companion to the "Canter-bury Tales" (OACCT). This is a companion that makes good on its tagline—"A new way to learn about old books"—in smart and groundbreaking ways. Perhaps its most impressive innovation is in the publication format. As its title suggests, the OACCT is a completely online, noncommercial resource, freely available to all. Remarkably, no presses were involved in this companion's making; at a time when academic publishing has entered troubled waters, this project demonstrates how scholars can work outside traditional publication venues and practices. Moreover, print companions necessarily offer readers a snapshot of a particular moment in Chaucer scholarship. This online companion, by contrast, is intended to be ever evolving; at the time that I am writing this review, the editors have plans to add additional material, including pedagogical resources and "reader contributions." The OACCT specifically addresses itself to university-level, first-time readers of Chaucer. As of this writing, it consists of a user's guide; twenty-nine essay chapters, each devoted to a particular Canterbury tale, plus one on the Host and frame; and six reference chapters, providing cultural, linguistic, and biographical background. With the stated goal of "combin[ing] the dynamism of recent scholarship with pedagogical flexibility," the editors solicited essays that are "question-oriented," are of "cross-historical interest," and engage with "current critical approaches." This is a tall order, but one that the companion achieves. Its essays are by and large excellent, offering the reader—and reviewer —an embarrassment of riches. I therefore single out a few essays as representative of the quality of the whole. Reference chapters are organized by standard topics—"English Society 1340–1400: Reform and Resistance," for example—with one exception: "What Does It Mean to Read a Medieval Text?," a collection of [End Page 330] twelve short essays curated by Moira Fitzgibbons and addressing readers' emotional, intellectual, and imaginative responses to Chaucer. "Readers" here include professors, novelists, video-game designers, a high-school student, and a rapper, among others. The reference chapters are lively and accessible. Simon Horobin, for example, in "Chaucer's Middle English," provides an admirably clear, undergraduate-friendly introduction to Chaucer's English. Kathleen E. Kennedy's "Everyday Life in Late Medieval England" runs through the typical day of fourteenth-century Englanders and provides an array of memorable details: for example, that medieval people wore fur on the inside, rather than the outside, of garments, to maximize warmth. For me, the knockout reference chapter is Alexandra Gillespie and Julianna Chianelli's "Manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales." Tackling their topic with verve, the authors counter popular misconceptions about the Middle Ages (nobody could read, there were no books, etc.), guide readers through the "bookishness" of the Canterbury Tales, and explain why that bookishness matters. Particularly fascinating is their section on associations among books, the human, and...