MDVL 514

Fall 2012

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Seminar in Medieval Literature
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Credit: 4 hours.

Same as ENGL 514. See ENGL 514.

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CRN Type Section Time Day Location Instructor Section Details
34489
Lecture-Discussion
E
1:00PM -2:50PM
W
113 English Building
Barrett, R
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/27/12-12/12/12
Section Title:
Ecocriticism Early Engl Drama
Section Info:
Topic Section E: Ecocriticism and Early English Drama This seminar surveys early English drama through an ecological lens, exploring the intersection of culture and nature on English stages in the three centuries before the closing of the theatres in 1642. For example, in the York and Chester bible cycles, the Eden and Noah pageants establish humanity?s relationship with nature in ways that owe as much to the cycles? civic sponsors as to the Book of Genesis. The Towneley Second Shepherds? Play blurs the line between human and animal, juxtaposing a stolen sheep disguised as a baby with the Lamb of God, while the morality play Mankind redefines human existence as wheat harvest. We?ll consider the ecological complexities of William Shakespeare?s ?green world? comedies, situating the Forests of Athens, Arden, and Windsor along a biopolitical continuum with Shakespeare?s urban zones. Climate and weather are up for discussion in shows ranging from John Heywood?s Tudor interlude The Play of the Weather to Thomas Nashe?s Summer?s Last Will and Testament; Shakespeare?s King Lear may feature here as well. ?Blue studies? will give us new purchase on the oceanic spaces of The Tempest as well as those of numerous London Lord Mayor?s Shows, and we?ll look at Caroline drama?s response to the enclosure and commodification of common green spaces as urban parks. This brief list of possible texts and approaches is not exhaustive (e.g., I haven?t said anything about masques and royal entries); look for it to change by the start of the Fall 2012 semester. The seminar will also double as an introduction to ecocritical theory, both within and without the purview of medieval and early modern studies. Names to drop here include Lawrence Buell, Ursula Heise, Timothy Morton, Raymond Williams, and our own Gillen Wood. Expect some shorter writing assignments to go along with the usual seminar paper; I may even overcome my habitual distaste for presentations.
Restriction(s):
Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
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