Borders and the Global North Atlantic

Abstract The representation of Africa and Iberia within the North Atlantic imaginary tends to highlight similar features—commodity and trade, the pilgrimage routes to Alexandria and Santiago de Compostela, crusading in Africa or Iberia, Africa and Iberia as Muslim territories, and Africa and Iberia...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:English Language Notes
Main Author: Otaño Gracia, Nahir I.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Duke University Press 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00138282-8557893
https://read.dukeupress.edu/english-language-notes/article-pdf/58/2/35/1549521/35otanogracia.pdf
Description
Summary:Abstract The representation of Africa and Iberia within the North Atlantic imaginary tends to highlight similar features—commodity and trade, the pilgrimage routes to Alexandria and Santiago de Compostela, crusading in Africa or Iberia, Africa and Iberia as Muslim territories, and Africa and Iberia as the borderlands of Europe. Although Chaucer’s textual corpus touches on all the above features, this essay traces the ways that Chaucer interrelates the territories of Africa and Iberia with the borders of Europe. Chaucer subscribes to the attitude that Africa, similar to the East and Al-Andalus, was meant for Christian domination and economic looting.