This course serves as an introductory survey of early and later British medieval literature (which includes the works of several ‘Anglo-Norman’ authors writing on the Continent) between 700 –1450 AD. The texts, originally in Old and Middle English, Welsh, Latin, and Anglo-Norman) will be read in Modern English translations, though some time will be spent on specific terms in the vernacular and the difficulties of accurate translation. The course aims to give students a basic knowledge of the variety and range of the genres of the period, including epic, romance, drama, lyrics, history, myths, saint’s lives, and inscriptions, as well as to impress upon the student the continuity and cultural complexity of medieval literature. The course will be augmented by art-historical presentations, manuscript studies and paleography exercises, and discussions about historiography and feminist critique.

In this class we will go beyond a simple reading of the texts to an analytical study of the themes and characteristics of the texts and how they endure and change through time and across cultures. We will discuss how politics, religion, economics, art, and other shifts in cultural perceptions affect the writer’s view of the world and how they portray it. This will be achieved through an immersion in the texts, frequent writing in and out of class, extra-curricular research, student presentations, and lively and informed class discussions.

Texts:
Beowulf (Seamus Heaney translation)
The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Medieval Period