Events

Past Event

Columbia Medieval Studies Seminar: Carissa Harris (Temple University)

March 3, 2022
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
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Heyman Center, Columbia University

Carissa Harris, Associate Professor of English at Temple University

Abstract: This talk examines the gendered politics of claiming spousal abuse in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. After the Clerk’s account of Griselda’s abuse at the hands of her husband Walter, the Merchant identifies with Griselda’s victimization by claiming to have suffered traumatic mistreatment by his shrewish wife. The pilgrimage’s Host then shares his own experience of marital violence from his “labbyng shrewe” of a wife. Both the Merchant and the Host use the popular figure of the wrathful shrew to co-opt the feminized language of gendered trauma in order to insist that their suffering is of paramount importance. Situating Chaucer’s unhappy married men in the larger context of medieval male-voiced laments of abuse by shrewish wives, I explore how Chaucer’s shrew-bound men imagine their trauma as conferring a form of shared victimhood that carries the privileges of knowledge, solidarity, consolation, and community.


Please note the unusual location for this talk: we will convene in the boardroom of the Heyman Center for the Humanities, located at 74 Morningside Drive. Please register for the event here; registration is required by the Heyman Center. 

Please also note that unfortunately, there will not be a dinner following the presentation due to ongoing COVID-19 precautions. The event will be fully masked. 

If you are not affiliated with Columbia, please both register by this Friday (2/25) and complete this COVID-19 attestation form, to be uploaded when you register. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that late, non-affiliate registrants will be able to enter the Heyman Center. 

Details

Please note the location. This event will take place in the Heyman Center, registration is required.