Fall Semester 2003

Department of English, Washington State University

Professor Michael Hanly

 


COURSE DESCRIPTION

We will read, in Middle English, Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls before beginning Troilus and Criseyde, to which we will devote most of our time this semester. If time permits, we'll have a look at some other shorter poems as well. We will consider such "traditional" topics in medieval criticism as political and social history, theology, chivalry, courtliness, source studies, meter, language, and architectonics. We will also become familiar with current research in the field that examines Chaucer's poetry in the light of feminism, new historicism, cultural studies and other theoretical approaches. Opportunities to explore any issues students find worthwhile will arise in class discussions, oral reports, papers, and exams.

In-class work will include informed discussion of the assigned texts, and the presentation of two oral reports on Chaucer criticism, one on an article and the second on a book. The major focus of student work outside of class will be on the production of a publishable essay. Students will also prepare a critical annotated bibliography to be distributed to the class and posted on our website; time permitting, this bibliography will be presented during an oral in-class presentation describing progress on project research up to that point.

 

Here is a link to an on-line version of our SYLLABUS / SCHEDULE

 

MAILING LIST

I decided that we have enough to read via Mailing Lists, and find that they are in general more bother than they are worth. We will therefore do this informally. Everybody MUST send me an e-mail immediately, so that I can come up with a group address; if you should wish to reply or send a query to the entire seminar, simply copy the addresses into the "to" line. My e-mail:

hanly@wsu.edu

 


TEXTS

Required

The only required text is Larry Benson, et al., eds., The Riverside Chaucer (1988), new edition, paperback. I went to great lengths to have it ordered for this class through its sole distributor, amazon.uk; once you've seen how heavy and expensive the clothbound version is, you'll start thanking me at once.

Recommended

You'll definitely need to learn to read Middle English--the exams etc. will require it--but there's nothing wrong with using a translation as a "pony." Chaucer did it all the time. The best Modern English translation of Troilus is Barry Windeatt's inexpensive paperback (Oxford University Press, 1998). It can be had through amazon.com, and probably at any decent big-city bookstore; the Student Book Corporation here is more a boutique than anything else, and need not apply.


WEB BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Chaucer Bibliography Online

A colossal endeavor by Prof. Mark Allen of UTSA; this is one of the most useful tools available for the study of Chaucer, a searchable, annotated bibliography of every book and article written about Chaucer for the last several years. It will eventually go back about 25 years. The annotations are excellent and will give you a good idea whether or not you need to look at the work.

This bibliography is now available on a website, "fully searchable and web-friendly" indeed.

Chaucer Review: Annotated & Indexed Biblio

"Annotated and Indexed Bibliography of the first 30 years of The Chaucer Review. From "Abraham" to "Zitter," scholars have published nearly 800 articles in the first 30 volumes of the premier Chaucer journal, and they are all listed and summarized here. The subject index is searchable using the Find function of your browser, and you can use the article numbers there to find the essays you want in the bibliography. For example, if you go to the index and search for "anti-Semitism," you will find eight entries, numbered 19, 139, 268, 279, 324, 377, 747, 798. In the bibliography, search for 268, and you will find Frank, Hardy Long. "Seeing the Prioress Whole." 25 (1991): 229-37 with a summary of his argument. The bibliography is a large file and takes a while to load, but it is a great resource." (thanks to Alan Baragona for this description).

The Medieval Review

This is something I have just become aware of: a collection of electronic reviews of books that can be both browsed and searched, covering all subject in the realm of medieval studies. Very useful.

The Essential Chaucer (1900-1984)

The site describes itself in this fashion: "The Essential Chaucer is a selective, annotated bibliography of Chaucer studies from 1900-1984. It was first published in 1987 by G. K. Hall and Mansell Publishers Limited. The bibliography is divided into almost 90 topics, including themes, techniques, and individual works by Chaucer."

 




LINKS / BACK TO

 

Chaucer Scriptorium (my main Chaucer site; including links to other pages dealing with medieval lit., etc.)

The Chaucer MetaPage : the central clearinghouse for anything Chaucerian.

Hanly's Home Page (includes links to other course websites)