Chaucer and Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen): Perspectiva, Arabic Mathematics, and Acts of Looking

Q2 Arts and Humanities
Shazia Jagot
{"title":"Chaucer and Ibn al-Haytham (Alhacen): Perspectiva, Arabic Mathematics, and Acts of Looking","authors":"Shazia Jagot","doi":"10.1353/sac.2022.0029","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The question of \"how one sees\" gives rise to a brief, learned interjection on optics and perspectiva in the Squire's unfinished, interlaced romance—an intervention that draws \"Alocen,\" the Arabic mathematician Ibn al-Haytham (Latin: Alhacen or Alhazen) into discussion. Alhacen's De aspectibus, the Latin translation of his extraordinary treatise Kitāb al-Manāzir (Book of Optics) has long been acknowledged and utilized in Chaucer scholarship. However, little focused attention has been paid to tracing the intertextual routes that lead to Chaucer's \"Alocen\" from Jean de Meun's reference to \"Alhacem\" in the Roman de la Rose, through to entries on \"Ibn al-Haytham\" in Arabic bio-bibliographic dictionaries. In tracing the ways that European vernacular literature can be connected with Arabic textualtradi tions, this article also challenges the under-examined Eurocentric approaches to Chaucer and late medieval vernacular literature where Arabic figures such as \"Alocen\" have been collapsed into generic molds of medieval philosophers. It argues that repositioning Chaucer's \"Alocen\" as an Arabic mathematician and optical authority allows us to understand better not only his presence in The Squire's Tale, but the depiction of the physical act of looking and the cognitive and psychological consequences of key moments of sight beyond this romance. In order to demonstrate this, the exact question of \"how one sees\" as presented in the Kitāb al-Manāzir is explored with particular attention paid to the psychology of sight in examining the relationship between perception and judgment in three pivotal acts of looking in The Knight's Tale, The Physician's Tale, and Troilus and Criseyde.","PeriodicalId":53678,"journal":{"name":"Studies in the Age of Chaucer","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Studies in the Age of Chaucer","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/sac.2022.0029","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"Arts and Humanities","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract:The question of "how one sees" gives rise to a brief, learned interjection on optics and perspectiva in the Squire's unfinished, interlaced romance—an intervention that draws "Alocen," the Arabic mathematician Ibn al-Haytham (Latin: Alhacen or Alhazen) into discussion. Alhacen's De aspectibus, the Latin translation of his extraordinary treatise Kitāb al-Manāzir (Book of Optics) has long been acknowledged and utilized in Chaucer scholarship. However, little focused attention has been paid to tracing the intertextual routes that lead to Chaucer's "Alocen" from Jean de Meun's reference to "Alhacem" in the Roman de la Rose, through to entries on "Ibn al-Haytham" in Arabic bio-bibliographic dictionaries. In tracing the ways that European vernacular literature can be connected with Arabic textualtradi tions, this article also challenges the under-examined Eurocentric approaches to Chaucer and late medieval vernacular literature where Arabic figures such as "Alocen" have been collapsed into generic molds of medieval philosophers. It argues that repositioning Chaucer's "Alocen" as an Arabic mathematician and optical authority allows us to understand better not only his presence in The Squire's Tale, but the depiction of the physical act of looking and the cognitive and psychological consequences of key moments of sight beyond this romance. In order to demonstrate this, the exact question of "how one sees" as presented in the Kitāb al-Manāzir is explored with particular attention paid to the psychology of sight in examining the relationship between perception and judgment in three pivotal acts of looking in The Knight's Tale, The Physician's Tale, and Troilus and Criseyde.
Chaucer和伊本·海瑟姆(Alhacen):透视、阿拉伯数学和观察行为
摘要:在Squire未完成的、交错的浪漫故事中,“一个人如何看待”的问题引发了对光学和透视的简短而习得的插话——这一插话吸引了阿拉伯数学家Ibn al-Haytham(拉丁语:Alhacen或Alhazen)“Alocen”的讨论。Alhacen的De aspectibus是他非凡论文Kitāb al-Manāzir(《光学之书》)的拉丁文翻译,长期以来一直被Chaucer学术界所认可和使用。然而,很少有人关注Chaucer的《Alocen》的互文路径,从Jean de Meun在《罗马玫瑰》中提到的“Alhacem”,到阿拉伯语生物书目词典中关于“Ibn al-Haytham”的条目。在追踪欧洲白话文学与阿拉伯文本传统的联系方式时,本文还对乔叟和中世纪晚期白话文学的欧洲中心主义方法提出了质疑,在这些方法中,像“Alocen”这样的阿拉伯人物已经被瓦解为中世纪哲学家的通用模式。它认为,将乔叟笔下的“Alocen”重新定位为一位阿拉伯数学家和光学权威,不仅可以让我们更好地理解他在《松鼠的故事》中的存在,还可以更好地理解对视觉的身体行为以及这段浪漫之外的关键视觉时刻的认知和心理后果的描述。为了证明这一点,《Kitāb al-Manāzir》中提出的“如何看待”的确切问题,在《骑士的故事》、《医生的故事》以及《特洛伊洛斯与基督》中,在考察感知和判断三个关键行为中的关系时,特别关注了视觉心理学。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Studies in the Age of Chaucer
Studies in the Age of Chaucer Arts and Humanities-Literature and Literary Theory
CiteScore
0.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信