ENH3390

Middle English literature

J Strauss

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
* Pre- or corequisite: ENH2190/ENH3190

Objectives Students taking this subject should develop skills in reading and analysing the language of Middle English at a more advanced level than that required for ENH2190/ENH3190, with a consequent capacity to read in their original language the complex and substantial literary texts prescribed for study; a broad knowledge of the historical and cultural background of these texts; knowledge and understanding of relevant Christian doctrine; knowledge and understanding of medieval literary theory, especially with regard to the conventions of the different forms of the romance genre; the skills required, in both written and oral work, to marshal such knowledge and understanding into arguments addressed to specific topics.

Synopsis A study of the themes of love, warfare, fortune and free will as they are embodied in verse and prose narrative treatments of the story of Troilus and Cressida and of the Arthuriad. The literature is read in the original language and discussed in its linguistic and cultural context. The narrative and ideological conventions of medieval romance will be a major concern.

Assessment Two Exercises (2500 words): 40%
* Commentary test (2500 words): 40%
* Short translation test and seminar preparation (1000 words): 20%

Prescribed texts

Chaucer `Troilus and Criseyde' The Riverside Chaucer ed. L Benson, OUP, 1988
Henryson R The testament of Cresseid and other poems sel. Macdiarmid, Penguin, 1973
Malory The works of Sir Thomas Malory ed. E Vinaver, OUP, 1978
Tolkien J R R and Gordon E V (eds) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight OUP, 1992

Recommended texts

Burnley D A guide to Chaucer's language Macmillan, 1983
Coote S English literature of the Middle Ages Penguin, 1988