ÐÂÏã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û

This module will introduce students to key works in medieval French literature. Ìý

The module is divided into two halves, taught respectively in the first and second halves of term. The first half addresses medieval and modern ideas about and conflicts over race, ethnicity, nationality, and religion. The second addresses courts, courtoisie (courtliness) and courtly love: topics central to medieval literature. Both halves address medieval and modern ideas about and forms of gender and sexuality, including trans, queer, kinship, cross-dressing, and inter-religion relationships. Ìý

1. Christianity and its Others Ìý

In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, energetic European expansion (in particular through the Crusades in Spain, North Africa, the Middle East and the Eastern Christian empire of Byzantium) coincided with the cultural development of vernacular French literature, which found many of its earliest resources in various non-Christian cultures (Latin, Arabic, Greek, Celtic). This half of the module will explore some of the ways in which Old French literary texts represent Christians and the ‘pagans’ with whom they come into contact in encounters dramatized as violent, erotic and/or burlesque. We shall study epic, romance and comic texts. We shall analyse the kinds of desire engaged in the differing representations of the pagan ‘other’, and explore also how true to life (or otherwise – mainly otherwise!) these literary pagans were. Ìý

Set texts for ‘Christianity and Its Others’: Ìý

• La Chanson de Roland, ed. and modern Fr. trans. Jean Dufournet (Garnier-Flammarion, series Flammarion bilingue), ISBN 2-08-070554-7. Ìý

• L'épopée pour rire. 'Le voyage de Charlemagne à Jérusalem et Constantinople' et 'Audigier', ed. and modern French trans. Alain Corbellari (Paris, Champion, 2017). Available as hard copy or ebook.

• Robert d'Orbigny, Le Conte de Floire et Blanchefleur, ed. and modern Fr. trans. J-L Leclanche (Champion, series Champion Classiques Moyen Age, 2), ISBN 2745307363. Ìý

• Aucassin et Nicolette, in: Nouvelles courtoises, ed. Suzanne Méjean-Thiolier and Marie-Françoise Notz-Grob (Livre de Poche, series Lettres gothiques, 1997) (see second half of term). Ìý

Alternatively, Aucassin et Nicolette, ed. Jean Dufournet (Garnier-Flammarion, series Flammarion bilingue), ISBN 2-08-070261-0. Ìý

2. The Court, Courtoisie and Courtly Love Ìý

The noble or royal court provides the setting for much medieval literature. Often depicted as a luxurious place, the epitome of elegance and refinement, it is also seen as a destructive environment, full of jealousy, spite and scandal. In this half of the module, we shall look at examples of literature produced for courts and depicting the people who live there. What are the pleasures of such a life, and what are its constraints? To what extent is life governed by codes of courtoisie (courtliness or courtesy), and what problems do these codes create? In particular, we shall examine the code of courtly love, what it was, and how it was problematised in some of the key works of medieval literature. Ìý

Set Texts for ‘The Court, Courtoisie and Courtly Love’: Ìý

• Graelent, Guingamor and Le Lai du Trot, all in: Lais féeriques des XIIe et XIII siècles, ed. A. Micha (GF-Flammarion) ISBN 2-08-070672-1. Ìý

• Chrétien de Troyes, Le Chevalier de la charrette, ed. C. Méla (Livre de Poche, series: Lettres gothiques) ISBN 2-253-05401-1. Ìý

• La Châtelaine de Vergi, Le Lai de l'oiselet, and Jean Renart, Le Lai de l'ombre, all in: Nouvelles courtoises, ed. S Méjean-Thiolier and M-F Notz-Grob (Livre de Poche, series: Lettres gothiques) ISBN 2-253-06661-3. Ìý

Teaching Delivery Ìý

10 x weekly 2-hour lecture-seminars, with small-group discussions. Students are expected to have read the specified text(s) and other preparatory materials each week, and to come prepared to discuss them actively. Ìý

By the end of the module, you should be able to: Ìý

1. Understand and engage critically with key literary works in medieval French Ìý

2. Understand and engage critically with relevant modern critical theories Ìý

3. Understand and engage critically with medieval and modern concepts relevant to religious conflict and to the history of sexuality. Ìý

4. Discuss in a variety of formats Ìý

5. Write essays on relevant topics. Ìý

Recommended Reading Ìý

In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core critical works. These can be found in the ÐÂÏã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹ûLibrary: Ìý

• Kinoshita, Sharon, Medieval Boundaries: Rethinking Difference in Old French Literature (Philadelphia, 2006) Ìý

• Christopher Tyerman, The Crusades: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Ìý

• Gaunt, Simon, and Sarah Kay, eds, The Cambridge Companion to Medieval French Literature (Cambridge, 2008), available online Ìý