Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Advanced study of specific aspects of Medieval literature. May be defined by author, genre, or critical approach. Students with credit for ENGL 404 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

Medieval British Women's Literature

Conventional wisdom is that women in the Middle Ages were silenced and marginalized by an overwhelmingly misogynist and Christian patriarchal culture. True enough (though as we will find, not always and not in the ways we might expect). Despite this, from the years 700 up through 1500, an amazing range of texts—both poetry and prose—survives written by women; and other texts were commissioned by or written for women. These texts can give insight into the profound ways that gender, love, politics, faith, and literacy could shape, constrain, or enable women’s lives, thought, and work. Moreover, these letters, romances, devotionals, lyrics, and autobiographies are also astoundingly rich: laments on exile, stories of werewolves, explorations of erotic love, reflections on ecstatic visions, tales of fairy magic, and the cries of the undead become critical moments of resistance or renewal, while we as readers and scholars can discover historical insights through careful reading.  

In this course, we will read medieval British women’s literature, beginning with Latin letters by Anglo-Saxon nuns all the way up through the Welsh religious and sexual lyrics of Gwerful Mechain. A few of these texts were authored by men, but were written for a woman patron or audience. These authors came from diverse backgrounds in British society: from the French queen’s own circle to an English middle class merchant. Medieval Britain was multilingual, and works will be from Latin, Old English, Welsh, Old Norse, Middle English, and Anglo-Norman or Old French. All will be presented in translation, though we will look at the originals, especially the Old and Middle English. Our primary approaches to the texts will be literary and historical, but with special attention on gender, sex, and the body as critical concepts, especially as they intersects with language, ethnic, religious, and sexual identities. As this is a writing course, we will plan, develop, research, write and present a major project over the course of the term, based on a topic of student’s choice. This course is an excellent opportunity to explore in depth the literature and culture of medieval Britain with a keen focus on women’s lives and writings.

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

To read closely, understand deeply, write clearly.
To contextualize these works by and for medieval women in their historical moment and our literary history.
To recognize the acts of resistance, claims on authority, and insights into knowing and being in this literature.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: