Chaucer's "makyng" of the Romaunt of the Rose

Despite its being the first testimony of Chaucer’s genius, the interest of modern criticism in the Romaunt has mainly focused on the issue of authorship, whereas the efforts to assess this text as a translation have been limited both in their number and in their scope. This paper discusses Chaucer’s translation of the Roman de la Rose, and provides an evaluation of Fragment A from a modern traductological perspective, while taking account of contemporary theoretical positions. First, this article compares the Romaunt with Chaucer’s later translating practice. Second, taking into account that the immediate audience of the Romaunt would have been cognizant of French, this essay considers the pragmatic function of this translation. Finally, I reconstruct some of Chaucer’s decisions in the translation process, and then I present the translation strategies he adopted in order to create an English metapoem which replicated the spirit of the Roman, thus proving the adequacy of English for poetic expression.

Djabote [videorecording]: Senegalese drumming & song from master drummer Doudou N'Diaye Rose

A film of Eric Serra's audio recording session of Doudou N'Diaye Rose and his drumming ensemble outdoors on the island of Gorée, off the coast of Dakar, Senegal. The film concentrates on two performances -- one shot in daytime, and one at night. Two performances are filmed, punctuated by images of the island.

Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine and Saint Croix River, Nautical Chart, 1781 (Image 1 of 4) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the untitled, historic nautical chart: [A chart of the Island of Grand Manan, Passamaquody Bay & River]. The map is [sheet 47] from the Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England, from surveys taken by Samuel Holland and published by J.F.W. Des Barres, 1781. Scale [ca. 1:50,000]. This layer is image 1 of 4 total images of the four sheet source map, representing the northeast portion of the map. Covers coastline from Blacks Harbour to Haggertys Cove, New Brunswick, Canada and portion of Bay of Fundy. The image is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the 'World Mercator' (WGS 84) projected coordinate system. All map collar information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows coastal features such as harbors, inlets, rocks, channels, points, coves, shoals, islands, and more. Includes also selected land features such as cities and towns, buildings. Depths shown by soundings. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection. The entire Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England has been scanned and georeferenced as part of this selection.

Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine and Saint Croix River, Nautical Chart, 1781 (Image 2 of 4) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the untitled, historic nautical chart: [A chart of the Island of Grand Manan, Passamaquody Bay & River]. The map is [sheet 48] from the Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England, from surveys taken by Samuel Holland and published by J.F.W. Des Barres, 1781. Scale [ca. 1:50,000]. This layer is image 2 of 4 total images of the four sheet source map, representing the southeast portion of the map. Covers portin of the coastline of Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada and Bay of Fundy. The image is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the 'World Mercator' (WGS 84) projected coordinate system. All map collar information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows coastal features such as harbors, inlets, rocks, channels, points, coves, shoals, islands, and more. Includes also selected land features such as cities and towns, buildings. Depths shown by soundings. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection. The entire Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England has been scanned and georeferenced as part of this selection.

Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine and Saint Croix River, Nautical Chart, 1781 (Image 3 of 4) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the untitled, historic nautical chart: [A chart of the Island of Grand Manan, Passamaquody Bay & River]. The map is [sheet 49] from the Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England, from surveys taken by Samuel Holland and published by J.F.W. Des Barres, 1781. Scale [ca. 1:50,000]. This layer is image 3 of 4 total images of the four sheet source map, representing the southwest portion of the map. Covers portions of the coastline of Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Canada, coast of northern Maine, and Bay of Fundy. The image is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the 'World Mercator' (WGS 84) projected coordinate system. All map collar information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows coastal features such as harbors, inlets, rocks, channels, points, coves, shoals, islands, and more. Includes also selected land features such as cities and towns, buildings. Depths shown by soundings. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection. The entire Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England has been scanned and georeferenced as part of this selection.

Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine and Saint Croix River, Nautical Chart, 1781 (Image 4 of 4) (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the untitled, historic nautical chart: [A chart of the Island of Grand Manan, Passamaquody Bay & River]. The map is [sheet 50] from the Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England, from surveys taken by Samuel Holland and published by J.F.W. Des Barres, 1781. Scale [ca. 1:50,000]. This layer is image 4 of 4 total images of the four sheet source map, representing the northeast portion of the map. Covers Cobscook Bay, Maine, Passamaquoddy Bay, and Saint Croix River, Maine and New Brunswick, Canada. The image is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the 'World Mercator' (WGS 84) projected coordinate system. All map collar information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This map shows coastal features such as harbors, inlets, rocks, channels, points, coves, shoals, islands, and more. Includes also selected land features such as cities and towns, buildings. Depths shown by soundings. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps from The Harvard Map Collection. The entire Atlantic Neptune atlas Vol. 3 : Charts of the coast and harbors of New England has been scanned and georeferenced as part of this selection.