Levka<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Chaucer" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Chaucer</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/antisemitism" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>antisemitism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/misogyny" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>misogyny</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/espionage" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>espionage</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CancelCulture" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>CancelCulture</span></a></p><p>"In his July 2021 essay for the Times Literary Supplement, A.S.G. Edwards, professor of medieval manuscripts at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, laments the removal of Geoffrey Chaucer from university curricula. Edwards says he believes this disappearance may be propelled by a vocal cohort of scholars who see the 'father of English poetry' as a rapist, racist and antisemite.</p><p>The predicament would have amused Chaucer himself. Jewish and feminist scholars, among others, are shooting down one of their earliest and wisest allies. This is happening when new research reveals a Chaucer altogether different from what many current readers have come to accept. My decades of research show he was no raunchy proponent of bro culture but a daring and ingenious defender of women and the innocent.</p><p>As a medievalist who teaches Chaucer, I believe the movement to cancel Chaucer has been bamboozled by his tradecraft – his consummate skill as a master of disguise.</p><p>(. . .)</p><p>Critics cherry-pick quotations to support their claims about Chaucer. But if you examine his writings in detail, as I have, you’ll see themes of concern for women and human rights, the oppressed and the persecuted, reappear time and time again.</p><p>Chaucer the spy</p><p>Readers often assume Chaucer’s characters were a reflection of the writer’s own attitude because he is such a convincing role player. Chaucer’s career in the English secret service trained him as an observer, analyst, diplomat and master at concealing his own views.</p><p>In his teens, Chaucer became a confidential envoy for England. From 1359 to 1378, he graced English diplomatic delegations and carried out missions described in expense records only as 'the king’s secret business.'"</p><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/calls-to-cancel-chaucer-ignore-his-defense-of-women-and-the-innocent-and-assume-all-his-characters-opinions-are-his-152312" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theconversation.com/calls-to-c</span><span class="invisible">ancel-chaucer-ignore-his-defense-of-women-and-the-innocent-and-assume-all-his-characters-opinions-are-his-152312</span></a></p>