Blogging Kalamazoo: Friday Morning
May. 9th, 2008 11:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjMy post-food-poisoning state seems to be doing ok, although I haven't tried to ingest anything besides water since getting up.
Session 206 - Costume in Medieval Literature, including Chaucer
Alison's "Coler" Continued: Bringing the Visual Evidence to the Literary Problem (Robin Netherton)
How to interpret the description of of Alison's garment which is given (in modernized English) as "White was her smock and 'broyden' all before and eke behind on her collar about of coal-black silk within and eke without." The standard smock in Chaucer's time had a low, round neckline and would not normally have been visible. While hidden embroidery might be plausible, there seems no point in having decoration inside and outside on a part of a garment that lay flat against the body. One avenue for exploration is the "inner collar" seen inside some houppelandes (a new fashion in Chaucer's time) that looks sort of like a partlet precurson. While the houppelande was an upper class garment and wouldn't have been worn by Alison, there's one image of an early 15th c. working-class woman wearing a partlet-like white item over the round-necked gown. It has a standing collar (which might reasonably be embroidered within and without) and fastens with tapes under the arms and a brooch on the breast (items mentioned in the description of Alison). But ... turns out this one image (from the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries) has a significant flaw: the tapestries underwent a period of being cut up and reassembled multiple times, and the specific fragment may well date to much later than needed for this exploration. Still the "inner collar" of the houppelande is a promising avenue for further exploration.
Jean de Meun's Glad Rags on the Rack: Missing Fortune's Sartorial Opportunities (Laurel Broughton)
The image for "Dame Fortune" and her wheel (raising one man up and taking another down) shows up more than once in Chaucer, but despite his usual attention to costume, Fortune's clothing is not described. The imagery of Fortune comes largely through Boethius, who notes that Fortune is "always changing her disguise", perhaps making specific descriptions inapt? Compare with descriptions of Fortune's house, where some rooms are fine and grand while others are mean and dirty? Different mss show Fortune wearing clothing from all different ranks and stations (or none at all, in at least one case). One common feature of Fortune's dress is a blindfold, indicating her ignorance of the results of her actions.
Do Clothes Make the "Vilain": A Reconsideration of the "Herdsman's" Costume in Chretien de Troyes' Yvain (Lorraine Kochanske Stock)
The herdsman character in Yvain may serve various roles: that of an uncouth or rustic figure, the "wild man", or perhaps even an early version of the "noble savage". The character is seen to partake of aspects of the beasts he tends and evokes both loathing and pity. His garments are described as "neither of linen nor wool" but made of two bull's skins fastened together at the shoulders. His other constant feature -- carrying a club -- suggests a connection with classical images of Hercules.
Session 206 - Costume in Medieval Literature, including Chaucer
Alison's "Coler" Continued: Bringing the Visual Evidence to the Literary Problem (Robin Netherton)
How to interpret the description of of Alison's garment which is given (in modernized English) as "White was her smock and 'broyden' all before and eke behind on her collar about of coal-black silk within and eke without." The standard smock in Chaucer's time had a low, round neckline and would not normally have been visible. While hidden embroidery might be plausible, there seems no point in having decoration inside and outside on a part of a garment that lay flat against the body. One avenue for exploration is the "inner collar" seen inside some houppelandes (a new fashion in Chaucer's time) that looks sort of like a partlet precurson. While the houppelande was an upper class garment and wouldn't have been worn by Alison, there's one image of an early 15th c. working-class woman wearing a partlet-like white item over the round-necked gown. It has a standing collar (which might reasonably be embroidered within and without) and fastens with tapes under the arms and a brooch on the breast (items mentioned in the description of Alison). But ... turns out this one image (from the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries) has a significant flaw: the tapestries underwent a period of being cut up and reassembled multiple times, and the specific fragment may well date to much later than needed for this exploration. Still the "inner collar" of the houppelande is a promising avenue for further exploration.
Jean de Meun's Glad Rags on the Rack: Missing Fortune's Sartorial Opportunities (Laurel Broughton)
The image for "Dame Fortune" and her wheel (raising one man up and taking another down) shows up more than once in Chaucer, but despite his usual attention to costume, Fortune's clothing is not described. The imagery of Fortune comes largely through Boethius, who notes that Fortune is "always changing her disguise", perhaps making specific descriptions inapt? Compare with descriptions of Fortune's house, where some rooms are fine and grand while others are mean and dirty? Different mss show Fortune wearing clothing from all different ranks and stations (or none at all, in at least one case). One common feature of Fortune's dress is a blindfold, indicating her ignorance of the results of her actions.
Do Clothes Make the "Vilain": A Reconsideration of the "Herdsman's" Costume in Chretien de Troyes' Yvain (Lorraine Kochanske Stock)
The herdsman character in Yvain may serve various roles: that of an uncouth or rustic figure, the "wild man", or perhaps even an early version of the "noble savage". The character is seen to partake of aspects of the beasts he tends and evokes both loathing and pity. His garments are described as "neither of linen nor wool" but made of two bull's skins fastened together at the shoulders. His other constant feature -- carrying a club -- suggests a connection with classical images of Hercules.
