2022 New Chaucer Society Congress, Durham, UK: Polyglot Reading of The Miller’s Tale

by Candace Barrington

In a happy reprise of the spontaneous (but very jolly) Polyglot Reading of The Miller’s Tale at the 2014 NCS Congress in Reykjavik, 14 Global Chaucerians gathered to read the tale in 9 languages (in addition to Middle English).

• 1.3109-3135, Middle English, Candace Barrington and Jonathan Hsy
• 1.3136-3166, Welsh, Jacqueline Burek
• 1.3167-3220, Spanish, Amanda Gerber
• 1.3221-3287, Lithuanian, Aistė Kiltinavičiūtė
• 1.3288-3338, 19c French, Juliette Vuille
• 1.3339-3398, German, Lucy Fleming
• 1.3399-3467, Arabic, Wajih Ayed
• 1.3468-3525, Italian, Sarah McNamer
• 1.3526-3588, Hebrew, Noa Nikolsky
• 1.3589-3656, German, Lucy Fleming
• 1.3657-3726, French, Jonathan Fruoco
• 1.3727-3785, Korean, Mariah Min
• 1.3786-3854, Italian, David Wallace

Some special highlights include

• the premier of Jonathan Fruoco’s new French prose translation of the tale,
• the first ever translation into Welsh thanks to the intrepid Jacqueline Burek,
• the introduction of Korean slang and dialect into Mariah Min’s reading,
• Lithuanian (need we say more?),
• a sequenced chorus of Alisoun’s “Tehee” (3740), and
• a recording, now streaming and available through mid-October to those who registered for the congress (either in person on online).

And, of course, lots of laughter.

In addition to thanking our fabulous readers (both new ones and repeat participants) for their full-hearted participation, we owe our deep gratitude to

• Mary Flannery for initially inviting us to resume the reading at the soon-to-be postponed 2020 Congress,
• Julie Orlemanski and Phil Smith for juggling schedules to ensured the reading happened in 2022,
• Patience Agbabi and other members of our audience for supporting us with their presence and laughter,
• Annette Kern-Stachler, Lian Zhang, Raúl Ariza-Barile kept away by the complications of pandemic-era travel, and
• Durham University’s excellent tech staff who smoothly orchestrated the recording and transmission of the event.

If you were a registered participant at the Congress, you can view the streaming broadcast of the reading.

• Go to ncs2020.net
• Click on Attendee Hub and log in just as you did during the Congress
• Select “All Sessions” on Schedule pull-down menu (upper)
• Search “polyglot,” then click on “Polyglot Miller’s Tale Reading”
• Click on “replay”
• After lots of preliminaries, the actual reading begins at 17 minutes and ends at. 59.30

Plans are already brewing for 2024. Let us know if you’re interested in participating at globalchaucers at gmail dot com.