ABSTRACT

Inspired by Chaucer’s frame tale narrative, the recent volumes entitled Refugee Tales narrate the perilous journeys of modern-day displaced and stateless persons seeking asylum in the UK. This article examines the Refugee Tales’ goal to create a “spectacle of welcome” through the lens of the biblical injunction to “love thy neighbor” and the related Levitical command that, “when a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong” (Leviticus 19:33–4). As a third-term in the sovereign formula of “friend/enemy,” the refugee threatens to uncouple power from the very criteria on which it depends: history, territory, bare life. And these concerns are arguably as important in the late-fourteenth century as in our own global political age. Does Chaucer think of the refugees he witnessed in his own life? Considering, then, the neighborly relations of literary texts — relations that are contiguous rather than genealogical — this article seeks Chaucer’s own refugee stories by delving into the narrative chasms of the Knight’s Tales’ absent narratives, the residue of Boccaccio’s Il Teseida, and the critically-contentious backstory to the Knight as storyteller.

摘要

受乔uc的叙事故事启发，最近出版的题为《难民故事》的小说讲述了现代流离失所者和无国籍人在英国寻求庇护的危险历程。本文通过“禁止爱你的邻居”的圣经禁令和相关的利维蒂克命令，研究了难民故事创造“欢迎景象”的目标，“当一个陌生人在您的土地上与您同住时，您不应他做错了吗？”（利未记19：33–4）。作为主权原则中“朋友/敌人”的第三个术语，难民威胁要把权力与其所依赖的标准脱钩：历史，领土，光秃秃的生命。这些担忧在十四世纪后期和在我们自己的全球政治时代一样重要。乔uc是否会想到自己一生中目睹的难民？然后，考虑到文学文本之间的邻近关系（即连续的关系而不是宗谱的关系），本文通过研究骑士故事的缺席叙事，博卡乔的《 Teseida》的残迹以及关键的内容来寻找乔uc自己的难民故事。-讲故事的骑士有争议的背景故事。