ENGLISH
4270/5250: Getting MEDIEVAL
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SUMMER 2018 |
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461 LUCAS |
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T/TH 5:00-7:30 |
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TR 2:00-3:30 |
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CLARK HALL 311 |
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& by appointment |
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fgrady@umsl.edu / 516-5510 |
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This course
has two goals. First, we will acquaint
ourselves with some of the major genres of English literature in the later
Middle Ages--dream visions and Arthurian romances, travel literature and
miracle tales, allegories and, well, more allegories. The texts date from c. 1350-1500, an era of great accomplishment and
considerable variety in English writing and great changes and considerable
upheaval in English culture--a period marked by plague, heresy, rebellion, and
civil wars. Secondly, we will explore some aspects of medievalism, that is, the ways in which “the middle ages” are
received, represented, and put to use in modern culture, politics, literature
and film.
The
literature of the middle ages has the sometimes baffling quality of seeming
simultaneously foreign and familiar, since in this historically remote period
the basic structures (and basic problems) of contemporary culture were in the
making; appreciating and understanding this paradox, and the medieval texts
that express it, thus requires (and can help foster) some intellectual agility
and an open mind. All texts used will be
in Modern English translation, though we will occasionally dip into the Middle
English originals.
Course Requirements:
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Two five- to six-page essays (±1800 words), 20
and 25%; one literary imitation, 15%; three in-class
summaries, 15%; two term-ID quizzes, 12.5% each; one medieval-themed
movie review (±750 words), 10% =
100%. Written assignments will typically
receive letter grades.
·
You will have three opportunities to hand in
the two essays, though everyone must submit the first essay due 6/11; I will
post online a non-exhaustive list of topics at least a week before each due
date. You can view my policy on extensions here.
·
Faithful (i.e., perfect) attendance is
expected; more than two absences from class will certainly have an adverse
effect on your grade.
·
Plagiarism on papers, electronic or the
old-fashioned kind, will mean an instant F for the assignment, my undying
disapprobation, and possible disciplinary action by the university; please
refer to this
site for further details, and please please please ask me if you have
any questions, about anything, ever.
The syllabus website linked to my own homepage (http://www.umsl.edu/~gradyf) will be the main one for the course, with regularly
updated links to supplementary materials and other medieval-themed sites on the web. Basic course materials (including class powerpoints)
will be posted on Canvas. Further details on
the English Department’s goals for 4000-level courses can be found here.
Required Texts:
·
Mandeville, Sir John. The
Book of Marvels and Travels. Trans. Anthony Bale. Oxford World’s Classics,
2012. ISBN 978-0-19-960060-1 [hence
MT]
·
The Gawain Poet: Complete Works: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
Patience, Cleanness, Pearl, Saint Erkenwald. Trans. Marie Borroff. Paperback. W. W. Norton & Company, 2011. ISBN 978-0393912357 [hence CW]
·
Langland, William. Piers Plowman: An Alliterative Verse
Translation. Trans. E. Talbot
Donaldson. W.W. Norton, 1990. ISBN 978-0-393-96011-2
[hence PP]
·
Malory,
Sir Thomas. Le Morte
D'Arthur: The Winchester Manuscript. Ed. Helen
Cooper. Oxford World's Classics, 1998. Paperback. ISBN 978-0192824202 [hence LMD]
·
A
selection of critical articles and other supplements, available as pdfs on
Canvas and marked below with an *.
Tentative
Syllabus:
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WEEK |
DATE |
READING |
ASSIGNMENTS |
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1 |
T MAY 15 |
Introduction; Thinking About the Middle Ages; The Travels of Sir John Mandeville ·
MT chs.
1-2, pp. 5-14 |
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TH MAY 17 |
Mandeville’s
Travels: Pilgrimage; Monsters; Circumnavigation ·
MT chs. 3-15, pp. 14-87 ·
*Orgelfinger, “J. K. Rowling's
Medieval Bestiary” ·
One of these two essays: o
*Eco, from Travels in Hyperreality o
*D’Arcens, “Presentism” |
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2 |
T MAY 22 |
Mandeville’s Travels: Geotheologicopolitics ·
MT chs.
16-24, pp. 87-124 ·
Saint Erkenwald (CW 175-83) ·
*Northern Homily Cycle
excerpts |
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TH MAY
24 |
Dreaming in
Middle English I ·
Pearl (CW
125-160) ·
*Bynum, “Material
Continuity, Personal Survival, and the Resurrection of the Body” |
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3 |
T MAY 29 |
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*Chaucer, The Parliament of
Fowls (Canvas) ·
“Teach Yourself to Read Chaucer,” lessons 2-5 ·
*Strohm, “The social and literary scene in England” (Canvas) |
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TH MAY
31 |
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*Chaucer, “The Franklin’s
Tale” ·
*Žižek, “Courtly Love, or, Woman as
Thing” |
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4 |
T JUNE 5 |
Sir Gawain and the Green Christmas ·
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (CW 201-60) |
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TH JUNE 7 |
Sir Gawain: “polished as a pearl?” ·
*Fisher,
“Leaving
Morgan Aside: Women, History and Revisionism in Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight” ·
*Heng, “Feminine Knots and the Other Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight” ·
Piers
Plowman prologue |
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5 |
T JUNE 12 |
Dreaming in
Middle English III: Piers Plowman ·
“Son, are you asleep?” (Prologue and Passus
1, PP 1-22) ·
Money Makes the World Go ‘Round (Passus
2-4, PP 22-39) ·
The Seven Deadly Sins—Live! (Passus 5, PP 39-60) |
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TH JUNE
14 |
Strivings against the Statute ·
Hunger Games (Passus 6, PP 60-70) ·
The Tearing of the Pardon (Passus 7, PP
70-77) ·
The Inner Journey (Passus 8-9, PP 77-87) ·
*1351 Statute of Laborers & associated petitions ·
*Holsinger, “Thorkel Farserk
Goes for a Swim: Climate Change, the Medieval Optimum, and the Perils of
Amateurism” |
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6 |
T JUNE 19 |
Quo tendas anagogia ·
Antichrist (Passus 19-20, PP
214-41) Malory, Le Morte D’Arthur: Foundations ·
LMD 3-32
(“How Uther Pendragon…”); 50-57 (“The Wedding of King Arthur”); 528-30
(Caxton’s Preface) |
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TH JUNE
21 |
Malory:
IOKIYAKOTRT ·
LMD 120-68
(“The Tale of Sir Gareth of Orkney”) |
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7 |
T JUNE 26 |
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TH JUN 28 |
Malory: The Grail Quest; Lusty
Deeds & Tears ·
LMD 311-402 (“The Noble Tale of the Sangrail,”);
403-67 (“The Tale of Sir Lancelot…”) ·
*Dinshaw, “Getting Medieval: Pulp Fiction, Gawain,
Foucault” |
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8 |
T JULY 3 |
Malory:
Everybody Dies, Maybe ·
LMD 468-527 (“The Death of King Arthur”) *Movie Medievalism essays (read 2/3): o
Bildhauer,
“Medievalism and Cinema” o
Haydock,
“The Medieval Imaginary” o
Pugh
and Weisl, “Movie Medievalisms”
Five (or Six) Ways of Looking at an Anachronism” |
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TH JULY 5 |
At
the Movies: ·
*A Knight’s Tale (2001) ·
*Essays on A Knight’sTale: o
D'Arcens, “Deconstruction and
the Medieval Indefinite Article: The Undecidable Medievalism of Brian Helgeland's A Knight's Tale” o
Forni, “Reinventing Chaucer: Helgeland’s
A Knight’s Tale” |
“Knight’s
Tale” essay summaries |
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Students with disabilities who
believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to
contact the Disability
Access Services Office in 131 Millennium Student Center at 516-6554 as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are
arranged in a timely fashion.