Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1941. / Reproduced from type-written copy. Published also without thesis note. Vita. Bibliography: p. 220-225.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University. / Published also without thesis note in Three Chaucer studies. "List of references": p. 177-182.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2001. / Adviser: John Fyler. Submitted to the Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-213). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University. / Published also without thesis note in Three Chaucer studies.

Appeared in part as the author's inaugural dissertation, Tübingen (with title: Unterordnung der Sätze bei Chaucer). / "Literatur": p. [xiv]-xv.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University. / Published also without thesis note in Three Chaucer studies.

Geoffrey Chaucer, grand traducteur, rhétoricien et poète courtois, fut longtemps considéré par la critique comme le père de la poésie anglaise. Or, un tel positionnement a non seulement tendance à occulter tout un pan de l'histoire de la littérature anglo-saxonne, mais également à mettre de côté les spécificités mêmes du style de Chaucer. Le but de cette étude est ainsi de démontrer que sa contribution à l'histoire de la littérature est bien plus importante qu'on ne le pensait. Car en décidant d'écrire en moyen-anglais à une époque où l'hégémonie du latin et du vieux-français était incontestée (en particulier à la cour d'Edouard III et de Richard II), Chaucer s'inscrivit dans un mouvement intellectuel visant à rendre aux vernaculaires européens le prestige nécessaire à une véritable production culturelle ayant permit l'émergence du genre romanesque. Ainsi, en assimilant successivement les caractéristiques de la poésie de Chrétien de Troyes, Guillaume de Lorris et Jean de Meun, Chaucer redonna à la poésie anglaise ses lettres de noblesse. Mais ce ne fut qu'après sa découverte de la Divina Commedia qu'il prit conscience du potentiel de la littérature : Dante lui permit, en effet, de libérer son art dialogique et d'ainsi donner à sa poésie une dimension polyphonique de premier ordre. De fait, si Chaucer ne peut être considéré comme le père de la poésie anglaise, il est en revanche le père de la prose anglaise et l'un des précurseurs de ce que Mikhaïl Bakhtine nomme le roman polyphonique. / Geoffrey Chaucer, translator, rhetorician and courtly poet, has long been considered by the critics as the father of English poetry. However, this notion not only tends to forget a huge part of the history of Anglo-Saxon literature, but also to ignore the specificities of Chaucer's style. The purpose of this thesis is accordingly to try to demonstrate that his contribution to the history of literature is much more important than we had previously imagined. Indeed, Chaucer's decision to write in Middle-English, in a time when the hegemony of Latin and Old-French was undisputed (especially at the court of Edward III and Richard II), was consistent with an intellectual movement that was trying to give back to European vernaculars the prestige necessary to a genuine cultural production, which eventually led to the emergence of romance and of the modern novel. The assimilation of the specificities of the poetry of Chrétien de Troyes, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun thus allowed Chaucer to give back to English poetry some of its respectability. Nonetheless, it was his discovery of the Divina Commedia that made him aware of the true potential of literature: Dante thus allowed him to free the dialogism of his creations and to give his poetry a first-rate polyphonic dimension. As a result, if Chaucer cannot be thought of as the father of English poetry, he is however the father of English prose and one of the main artisans of what Mikhail Bakhtin called the polyphonic novel.

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This dissertation situates Chaucer's Retraction in the context of medieval thinking about authorial intention and the utility of literary texts. It culminates in a reading of Chaucer's Retraction that emphasizes the Retraction's rhetorical status as a request for prayer, calls into question the presence of a disavowal of Chaucer's literary works, and explores the demands the Retraction makes upon readers.Augustine provided the foundation for medieval thinking about authorial intention through the development of an interpretive system in which readers have the responsibility of seeking in scripture meanings that will build them up toward love for God and their neighbor. Although the first step of interpretation is to seek out the author's intention, God can be trusted to have foreseen all possible meanings useful to the reader, even those not intended by the historical author. Medieval commentators similarly emphasized spiritual utility, as evidenced by the tradition of accessus, or academic prologues, which show interest in the historical author's intentions yet situate discussion of authorial intention in a larger rhetorical context, including consideration of the text's utility. Vernacular authors such as Chaucer and Boccaccio appropriate these interpretive practices in apologies that imply a limited role for authorial intention and leave the task of determining the moral significance of the text to readers.Modern readers have tended to make sense of Chaucer's Retraction by appealing to the intentions and historical circumstances of its author or by describing the Retraction's place within the aesthetic or doctrinal structure of the <italic>Canterbury Tales</italic>. Yet these approaches do not sufficiently account for the rhetorical context of the Retraction. Chaucer explains and defends his intention for the Parson's Tale not to fix interpretation but to influence the reader's moral evaluation of its author. He lists his religious and secular works not to retract or disavow the latter, but to enlist the reader's help in praying for his sins and in giving thanks for his good works. Ultimately Chaucer's Retraction offers readers an opportunity to reflect on their own readings of the <italic>Canterbury Tales</italic>, to pray for the author's salvation, and to benefit from his example of self-examination.