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'The Middle Ages' persist as a source of contemporary and popular cultural fascination. This course introduces students to a range of different high and late medieval literary texts and genres, from early tales about King Arthur over romances such as prolific author Marie de France's Anglo-Norman Lais (later 12thcentury), Heldris of Cornwall's gender bender adventure Roman de Silence (early 13th century), the Pearl Poet's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (c. 1375-1400), and Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469-70), in which we will study the literary notions of courtly love and the quest.
We will also go on a pilgrimage with Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (c.1387-1400) and encounter an outspoken Margery of Kempe (1436-38), and probably, somewhere along the way, we will have a date with Robin Hood. We will look at the famous Mystery and Morality Plays (15th century), discover medieval love poetry and ballads still sung today, and we will discuss Medievalism, the desire for origins, notions of diversity, nature vs. nurture, and multiple medieval pasts and presents.
Reading List:An electronic copy of Heldris de Cornualle. Silence. A Thirteenth-Century French Romance (trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, Michigan State UP, 1992), several Robin-Hood-tales, and some secondary reading will be made available on Moodle. Students are asked to obtain the following:
- Greenblatt, Stephen (ed.). The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume A: The Middle Ages. Norton & Company; 10th edition, 2018 (ISBN: 978-0393603026 – this is often available second-hand; the library also has several copies).
- Please make also sure you have access to David Lowery's 2021 film adaptation The Green Knight (USA and Canada, A24, Ley Line Entertainment et al. producers; available for example via Netflix and Amazon Prime, but also the university library.)
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