Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Colegio de Letras Modernas Departamento de Letras Inglesas

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1 Facultad de Filosofía y Letras Colegio de Letras Modernas Departamento de Letras Inglesas Literatura I (Medieval English Literature) Dr. Raúl Ariza Barile arizab.raul@gmail.com Course description This course surveys canonical English literature from the late eight to the fifteenth century, the period broadly known as medieval. However, because the literary cultures of the Middle Ages elude discrete periodizations, our goal in will be to engage with a diversity of texts written over the course of four hundred years of English cultural history carefully, critically, and mindful of various social, linguistic, and historical contexts. Genres contemplated in this course include, but are not limited to epic and heroic poetry, elegies, debate, fabliaux, romance (and romance-based genres such as the lai), saints lives, sermons, dream visions, travel literature, and finally, the rich late medieval theatrical traditions that brought about the mystery and morality plays. The course also places a heavy emphasis on the history of the English language. As such, students will gain some familiarity with the sounds, syntax, and grammar of Old and Middle English, will learn how to recognize key patterns, and will recite a brief fragment from a medieval English text to serve that purpose as part of their final grade. Grading 1 midterm paper: 40% 1 final exam: 50% 1 recitation: 10% 1

2 Required Reading Old English Period (8th century ca. 1100) * Caedmon s Hymn * Beowulf * The Wanderer * Charms and Riddles (selections) Anglo-Norman literature (12th century) * Lanval, Marie de France Early Middle English and the Thirteenth Century: * The Owl and the Nightingale * Dame Sirith Geoffrey Chaucer s Canterbury Tales (14th century) * General Prologue * Knight s Tale * Miller s Tale * Wife of Bath s Tale * Pardoner s Tale Other Fourteenth-Century Literature * Sir Gawain and the Green Knight * Pearl * The Vision of Piers Plowman, William Langland (excerpts) * Stanzaic life of St. Katherine (excerpts) * Travels, John Mandeville (excerpts) The Fifteenth Century * The Book of Margery Kempe, Margery Kempe (excerpts) * Morte d Arthur, Thomas Malory (excerpts) Medieval Drama * Everyman * The Temptation of Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery * The Croxton Play of the Sacrament Policies Class begins promptly at 5:00 PM. I do have an attendance policy: more than four unexcused absences is grounds for failing the class. If there is something that will prevent you to come to class regularly and on time, please let me know so that we can make 2

3 alternative arrangements, but it is still your responsibility to do all the reading and submit all coursework in a timely manner. Availability I am available via (arizab.raul@gmail.com), which I check regularly. Unless you contact me at an unreasonable hour (the night before a paper is due, for instance), please do expect a prompt reply. Feel free to use my for class- related inquiries. Additionally, I m happy to meet a bit before or after class to address any concerns that you might have. Dropbox The instructor will upload all class materials on Dropbox. It is your responsibility to check the site regularly for updates. Bibliography A) Primary (literary texts) Beowulf * Heaney, Seamus. "Beowulf: A New Translation, Bi-Lingual Edition." Array, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (2000). Wanderer; Seafarer; Riddles; Owl and the Nightingale * Treharne, Elaine, ed. Old and Middle English c. 890-c. 1400: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishing, Dame Sirith * Salisbury, Eve, ed. The Trials and Joys of Mariage. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, Lanval * David, Alfred, and James Simpson. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume Canterbury Tales * Chaucer, Geoffrey, and Larry Dean Benson. The Riverside Chaucer. Oxford University Press, * Kolve, V. A. The Canterbury Tales : Fifteen Tales and The General Prologue; Authoritative Text, Sources and Backgrounds, Criticism. A Norton Critical Edition Sir Gawain and the Green Knight * Howes, Laura L., ed. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: An Authoritative Translation, Contexts, Criticism. WW Norton,

4 Pearl * Sarah Stanbury, ed. Pearl. Medieval Institute Publications, Piers Plowman * Schmidt, A.V.C.,ed., and William Langland, Piers Plowman: A New Translation of the BText. Oxford University Press, USA, Mandeville, Travels * The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, ed. C.W.R.D. Moseley. Penguin, The Book of Margery Kempe * Margery, Kempe. [The book]; The book of Margery Kempe: A New Translation, Contexts, Criticism. Ed. Lynn Staley. Norton, Stanzaic St. Katherine * Reames, Sherry L. Middle English Legends of Women Saints. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, Malory, Morte Darthur * Shepherd, Stephen HA, ed. Le Morte Darthur by Thomas Malory. Norton, Everyman & Mankind * Bruster, Douglas, and Eric Rasmussen, eds. Everyman and Mankind. A&C Black, Second Shepherd s Play * David, Alfred, and James Simpson. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume B) Secondary (research) bibliography: *Baker, Peter S. Introduction to Old English. John Wiley & Sons, *Beadle, Richard, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre. Cambridge University Press, *Brown, Peter, ed. A Companion to Chaucer. John Wiley & Sons, *Beadle, Richard, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre. Cambridge University Press, *Brown, Peter. A Companion to Medieval English Literature and Culture c c John Wiley & Sons, *David, Alfred, and James Simpson. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Volume 4

5 *Donoghue, Daniel. Old English Literature: A Short Introduction. John Wiley & Sons, * Galloway, Andrew. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Culture. Cambridge University Press, * Johnson, David Frame, and Elaine M. Treharne. Readings in Medieval Texts: Interpreting Old and Middle English Literature. Oxford University Press, USA, *Krueger, Roberta L., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance. Cambridge University Press, * Minnis, Alastair J., and Ian Johnson, eds. The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism: The Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, *Saul, Nigel. The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval England. Oxford University Press, USA, * Scanlon, Larry. The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Literature Cambridge University Press, * Strohm, Paul. Middle English: Oxford Twenty-First Century Approaches to Literature. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, * Treharne, Elaine, and Duncan Wu, eds. Old and Middle English Poetry. Wiley-Blackwell, * Treharne, Elaine, and Greg Walker. The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Literature in English. Oxford University Press, * Treharne, Elaine, ed. Old and Middle English c. 890-c. 1400: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishing, * Turville-Petre, Thorlac. Reading Middle English Literature. Blackwell, * Walker, Greg, ed. Medieval Drama: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishing, * Wallace, David. The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature. Cambridge University Press,