Life, Love and Politics in Medieval Literature

Course goals

Students will read and explore literature written during the Middle Ages, particularly the depiction of themes such as love, marriage, gender relations and social and religious unrest, but also the imaginary worlds of the Middle Ages, in a variety of genres in English and Celtic medieval literature. 

After successful completion of the course, students:

• will be able to independently analyze the fictional worlds of medieval literature through close reading and a solid understanding of the historical and cultural contexts that inspired their creation.
• will have developed an understanding of current developments in theoretical approaches to premodern literature.
• will be able to report on their researchin appropriate written academic English.
   

Content

From the moment the curtain fell on the Middle Ages, it became a source of inspiration for authors. Edmund Spenser, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Tennyson, T.S. Eliot and J.R.R. Tolkien all made creative use of medieval themes. What is it about this period and its literature that has so captured imaginations? And what does medieval literature tell us about medieval society and its people? We look at how, in a tumultuous time of social and religious unrest, dissenting voices made their complaints against corruption and social injustice heard. We explore representations of sex and relationships, from audacious female voices to tales of courtly love. We also investigate the boundaries between the real and imaginary worlds of medieval literature and how fantasy worlds were used to address waking concerns.
In an effort to bring different types of texts into conversation with each other, and to probe generic boundaries, our sources cover a range of literary and non-literary genres, produced throughout the medieval Insular world (Ireland and the British Isles), c. 700-1500, and their continental influences. We will look at romances, Breton lays, fabliaux, poetry, drama, fable and autobiographical writing, as well as non-textual narratives found in manuscript marginalia and sculpture.
 

Additional information

This course is part of the 'Self, Others and the Literary World' specialisation in the English Language and Culture BA and accompanying course to the Specialisation 'Interpretation and Reinterpretation of Medieval Celtic Texts' in the Celtic Languages and Culture BA.

This course is equivalent to the following course:
Great Medieval Heroes (TL3V14204)

If you have already completed this course, you may not take Life, Love and Politics due to too much overlap in content.