일탈과 통제: 언어, 명예훼손, 그리고 초서의 [식품조달인의 이야기]
Transgression and Containment: Language, Defamation, and The Manciple’s Tale
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This paper examines the social practice of slander and defamation during the reign of Richard II as a social context for Chaucer’s The Manciple’s Tale in order to understand the poet’s growing skepticism about language and human speech as an efficient means of social communication. Focusing on the “house of Phoebus” as the site of sexual and linguistic containment and transgression as well as a symbolic representation of London society that underwent unprecedented confusion and disorder, particularly due to slanderous rumors circulating within the city, this paper shows how power was exercised to contain the abusive use of language and thereby either to bring stability to society or to protect the interests of those in power. As a response to the social crises caused by allegations of defamation and slander that flourished during the conflict between the two London mayors, John Northampton and Nicholas Brembre, and between Richard II and the Lord Appellants as well as other major historical events, the king’s reenactment of the scandalum magantum statute in 1379 and in 1389 evidences his awareness of the potential of language as a threat to the commonwealth and his effort to prevent social discord by controlling the linguistic transgression. Chaucer’s fable of the talking crow shares such concern over the power of language, which has been one of the recurrent themes in Chaucer’s early poems. Unlike the poet’s celebration of language in his earlier poems, however, The Manciple’s Tale seriously questions whether, as Cicero once believed, language is a divine gift given to men in order to bring them to civility and harmony. The uncontainable speech of the crow that betrays his training from Phoebus and reveals his bestiality also questions whether human speech is subject to control. The destruction of Phoebus’s house caused by the crow’s speech and Phoebus’ punishment of the crow for telling truth show Chaucer’s growing skepticism toward language that is hard to control and can easily be manipulated for the benefit of the power.
Abstract
This paper examines the social practice of slander and defamation during the reign of Richard II as a social context for Chaucer’s The Manciple’s Tale in order to understand the poet’s growing skepticism about language and human speech as an efficient means of social communication. Focusing on the “house of Phoebus” as the site of sexual and linguistic containment and transgression as well as a symbolic representation of London society that underwent unprecedented confusion and disorder, particularly due to slanderous rumors circulating within the city, this paper shows how power was exercised to contain the abusive use of language and thereby either to bring stability to society or to protect the interests of those in power. As a response to the social crises caused by allegations of defamation and slander that flourished during the conflict between the two London mayors, John Northampton and Nicholas Brembre, and between Richard II and the Lord Appellants as well as other major historical events, the king’s reenactment of the scandalum magantum statute in 1379 and in 1389 evidences his awareness of the potential of language as a threat to the commonwealth and his effort to prevent social discord by controlling the linguistic transgression. Chaucer’s fable of the talking crow shares such concern over the power of language, which has been one of the recurrent themes in Chaucer’s early poems. Unlike the poet’s celebration of language in his earlier poems, however, The Manciple’s Tale seriously questions whether, as Cicero once believed, language is a divine gift given to men in order to bring them to civility and harmony. The uncontainable speech of the crow that betrays his training from Phoebus and reveals his bestiality also questions whether human speech is subject to control. The destruction of Phoebus’s house caused by the crow’s speech and Phoebus’ punishment of the crow for telling truth show Chaucer’s growing skepticism toward language that is hard to control and can easily be manipulated for the benefit of the power.
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