Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog: Medieval Studies and New Media by Brantley L. Bryant

This book is an odd hybrid: part reflection on the role of new media in Medieval Studies, part reflection of the relation of humor to academic inquiry, and in a large part, reproduction of Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog. The blog entries are written in a very passable (to my inexpert eye at least) Middle English and cover both historical events (Chaucer's election to Parliament, Bolingbroke's rise to power, and the persecution of the Lollards and other heretics, for example) and contemporary trends (Snakes on a Plane, re-imagined as Serpentes on a Shippe; "large bookes of teenage sparklie vampyre romaunce" called Vespers, Compline, and Matins; King Richard tweeting; Margery Kempe interviewing for and being given a faculty position at the MLA; and a V things meme). John Gower writes an introductory poem with the unforgettable lines: "Beware, ye shal nat L O L / The while that ye burne in helle," and Julian of Norwich writes a parody of Dorothy Parker's "Résumé." Definitely worth checking out.

No comments: