MDVL 410

Fall 2013

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Topics in Medieval Brit Lit
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Credit: 3 OR 4 hours.

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CRN Type Section Time Day Location Instructor Section Details
61189
Lecture-Discussion
1G
1:00PM -1:50PM
MWF
104 English Building
Barrett, R
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/26/13-12/11/13
Credit:
4 hours
Section Title:
Nature & the Non-Human
Section Info:
Topic Section 1G: Nature and the Non-Human in Medieval England The natural landscapes of medieval English literature are filled with human and non-human agents: knights errant, intersex deer, half-giants, city mice, snake ladies, talking crosses, and so on. In this course, we?ll explore the interactions between these diverse beings, paying particular attention to their violations of the so-called line between human and non-human. Nature itself, frequently personified as a woman, will be an object of study, as will the ecologies our characters traverse and modify in the course of their adventures. Among the texts we?ll read in Modern English translation are the Exeter Book riddles of Anglo-Saxon England (in which talking objects recount their histories and ask you to guess their true identities), the Arthurian romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (in which Sir Gawain finds himself the object of an all-too deadly hunt), the exotic Travels of Sir John Mandeville (in which diamonds have sex and give birth to baby diamonds), Chaucer?s Parliament of Fowls (in which the goddess Nature serves as relationship counselor for a quartet of eagles), and The Owl and the Nightingale (in which the two birds debate their relative superiority).
Restriction(s):
Restricted to Graduate - Urbana-Champaign.
61188
Lecture-Discussion
1U
1:00PM -1:50PM
MWF
104 English Building
Barrett, R
Part of Term:
1
Date Range:
08/26/13-12/11/13
Credit:
3 hours
Section Title:
Nature & the Non-Human
Section Info:
Topic Section 1U: Nature and the Non-Human in Medieval England The natural landscapes of medieval English literature are filled with human and non-human agents: knights errant, intersex deer, half-giants, city mice, snake ladies, talking crosses, and so on. In this course, we?ll explore the interactions between these diverse beings, paying particular attention to their violations of the so-called line between human and non-human. Nature itself, frequently personified as a woman, will be an object of study, as will the ecologies our characters traverse and modify in the course of their adventures. Among the texts we?ll read in Modern English translation are the Exeter Book riddles of Anglo-Saxon England (in which talking objects recount their histories and ask you to guess their true identities), the Arthurian romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (in which Sir Gawain finds himself the object of an all-too deadly hunt), the exotic Travels of Sir John Mandeville (in which diamonds have sex and give birth to baby diamonds), Chaucer?s Parliament of Fowls (in which the goddess Nature serves as relationship counselor for a quartet of eagles), and The Owl and the Nightingale (in which the two birds debate their relative superiority).
Restriction(s):
Restricted to Undergrad - Urbana-Champaign.
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