Chaganti, Seeta. "Deplatforming Chaucer." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/deplatforming-chaucer. [Date accessed].

Deplatforming Chaucer

Using Chaucer's House of Fame to talk about the political memorialization of the past.

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Seeta Chaganti
University of California, Davis

Given that The House of Fame is concerned with the broadcasting of speech, the meaning of what is broadcast, and the platforming of the histories that produce our political ideologies, it incorporates many of the central terms involved in any discussion of not only monuments, but also deplatforming and free expression. It is thus a useful—maybe especially useful in its unexpectedness—place for a discussion about the role of Confederate monuments and other forms of oppressive memorializations in our country.

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Further learning

Video

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Seeta Chaganti offers an introduction to her "untimely juxtaposition" method, which places Chaucer's texts next to modern artifacts like film, visual art, and contemporary literature to open new avenues of exploration and discussion with students.

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Reading list

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A list of contemporary readings on critical theory and justice frameworks that help us reimagine ways to teach Chaucer in the 21st century.

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