ENGL 320A Aut 24: English Literature: The Middle Ages
The course offers an advanced (300-level) treatment of the literature of the Middle Ages (now generally referred to as the Premodern period), the level of treatment falling between the introductory courses ENGL 210 and ENGL 211 (expansively addressing English Literature 400-1700) and ENGL 422 (treating the legends of King Arthur). In this offering, an emphasis will be placed on the fictional "universe" of the court, on and the literary medium of the dream-vision. The selections here are notable for the inclusion of Old English prose as well as poetry. In the discussion of early English, we will read and discuss important works from the Old and Middle English periods, including a range of compositions by Old English poets, the early medieval English Life of King Alfred, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and a selection of non-canonical items. There will be a mid-term, final and a major term paper.
In terms of overall format, this course will be offered primarily as an on-campus, in-the-classroom course; but it may also be viewed as "hybrid" or "blended" insofar as all class sessions will be live-streamed for viewing over the Internet; all class sessions will be recorded for subsequent, asynchronous viewing (or reviewing) outside of the main class times; all exams will have both in-class and online options (students in each case will choose one or the other); and it is always possible that circumstances will dictate that some sessions -- no more than 20%, in any case -- will have to be moved online for various reasons.
Course Texts:
Hamer, Richard, A Choice of Anglo-Saxon Verse, 2nd ed. (Faber, 2015)
Heaney, Seamus, trans., Beowulf: A New Verse Trans. (dual-lang. ed.) (Norton, 2001)
Old English prose and the Life of King Alfred (handouts)
Winny, James trans., Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Broadview, 1882)
Beidler, Peter, Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, rev. ed. (Bantam, 2006)