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1、13IdentityandsubjecthoodJohnM.GanimPartoftheenduringappealofChaucerspoetry,especiallyintheCanterburyTalesandTroilusandCriseyde,ishisapparentabilitytocreaterealisticindividualswithbelievableandunderstandableinteriorlives.GenerationsofreadershavefeltasiftheyknowChaucerscharacters,andChau
2、cerhimself,thewaytheyknowtheirneighboursandacquaintances.Indeed,itisnotuncommonforustoobservehowmodernChaucerscharacterssound,atleastwhenwefactorouthisantiquatedlanguage.Overthepastfewdecades,however,anumberofcriticalapproacheshaveconvergedtoquestionthistime-honouredresponsetoChaucer.I
3、nitially,scholarsdirectedourattentiontotheconventionsofmedievalliteratureandthedegreetowhichtheyrepresentabstracttypesratherthanpsychologicallymotivatedhumanbeings.Then,culturaltheoryreplacedthecommonlyheldideaofanintegrated,autonomousselfwiththecomplexideaofaconstructedsubject.Morerec
4、ently,historicallybasedinterpretationsofmedi-evalidentitieshavepointedtothewaysinwhichtraditionalmedievalsocialcategorieswerebeginningtounravel,withnewformationsandassociationsreplacingolderallegiances.AllofthesenewdevelopmentshaveimplicationsforunderstandingChaucersworkandcharacters,a
5、swellasforunderstandinghisownrepresentationofhimselfasanauthorornarrator.Whatseemstobeamodernizingself-presentationonthepartofChaucersmostfullydevelopedcharactersturnsouttobeadeeplyenigmaticconstruc-tion.AtthemomentinthehistoryofEuropeanculturewhentheveryconceptionofthemodernindividual
6、seemstobearticulatingitself,Chaucercanbeseentobedem-onstratingthedegreetowhichthisapparentmodernityisimplicatedinthediscoursesofthepast.ThischapterwilldescribetheseliteraryandhistoricalcontextsinrelationtoChaucersworks.Individual,self,andsubjectMostreadersinstinctivelyunderstandliterar
7、ycharactersasiftheywererealpeople.Weevenjudgethesuccessoffictionalordramaticworksbyholdingtheircharactersornarratorstothestandardofreallife,evenifwedemandmoreconsistencyfromIdentityandsubjecthood225literaturethanwedofromlifeitself.Inatraditionstretchingbackmanycenturies,oneoftheappare
