MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Arts Undergraduate Handbook 1996

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996

ENH2020

Heroes, lovers and monsters: the literary culture of medieval England

C Stevenson

Synopsis This subject examines the cultural concerns which form the historical context of Medieval English literature. Important, formative intellectual texts are read in modern English translation (The consolation of philosophy, The romance of the rose) and the philosophical and social issues raised in these texts are studied in two key medieval English literary texts (Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight), which will be read in editions providing a modern English translation facing the text in its original form. Specific issues examined include: the literary impact of Christianity, medieval cosmology, fate, the importance of the manuscript context, rhetoric, the structures of medieval narrative, love (`courtly' and otherwise), and the significance of generic contexts. The ability to read Old and Middle English is not required. This subject is a pre- or corequisite for each of ENH2170/3170 (Old English) and ENH2190/3190 (Middle English).

Assessment Essay (2500 words): 40% + Essay (2500 words): 40% + Seminar assessment (1000 words): 20% + An optional examination (3 hours) may replace up to 50% of the written work

Prescribed texts

• Anon. Beowulf (ed. and tr. M Swanton) Manchester U P, 1978
• Anon. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ed. and tr. W R J Barron, Manchester U P, 1974
• Boethius The consolation of philosophy tr. E V Watts, Penguin, 1969
• Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun The romance of the rose tr. F Horgan, OUP, 1994

Recommended texts

• Ackerman R Backgrounds to Medieval English literature Random House, 1966
• Coote S English literature of the Middle Ages Penguin, 1988
• Ford B (ed.) The new Pelican guide to English literature vol. I parts 1 and 2, Penguin, 1983
• McEvedy C (ed.) The Penguin atlas of medieval history Penguin, 1961
• Myers A R England in the late Middle Ages (The Pelican history of England vol. 4) Penguin 1963
• Stenton D M English society in the early Middle Ages (The Pelican history of England vol. 3) Penguin, 1951
• Whitelock D The beginnings of English society (The Pelican history of England vol. 2) Penguin, 1952