Sommersemester 2004

Englisches Seminar, Universität Bern

Professor Michael Hanly

(Department of English, Washington State University, U.S.A.)

Last updated Wednesday March 3, 2004

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Times: Monday 12 - 14 and Wednesday 12 - 14

Sessions: 17.5.2004-23.6.2004, plus excursion

Level: For students who have completed their basic studies in English literature.

ECTS-Credits: 7

The aim of this Blockseminar will be to read a variety of texts from the English Middle Ages with a view to assessing their role in the development of Western notions of love. We'll consider a number of critical perspectives in examining a selection of lyrics and a number of English metrical romances, including King Horn, Havelok the Dane, Floris and Blancheflor, and Sir Orfeo. We will finish with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Chaucer's Book of the Duchess.
Nota bene: We will also read excerpts from two texts as precursors to the later-medieval poems listed above. These are St. Augustine's De doctrina Christiana Book I, and Ovid's Amores and Ars amatoria. Please see the section containing COURSE MATERIALS below.
Since the instructor will not be present until half way through the semester, we'll "meet" in cyberspace for several weeks before the class actually begins on 17 May. Please feel free to contact Prof. Hanly with any questions at hanly@wsu.edu. This website will be our "headquarters"; I'll be updating it and changing it at regular intervals, so please have a look from time to time.
ASSIGNMENTS FOR 29/3-17/5 (= until I arrive in Bern): please read whatever texts I have listed above at your convenience; it would be a good idea to have the longer stuff read by the time I arrive. I'll give you a list of lyrics in due time.

INTERNET RESOURCES

1. Class Bibliographies

Books in Swiss libraries: a selective list
Here is a list of books found in Uni Bern and Uni Basel libraries concerning medieval English lyrics and romances, and in particular those concerning The Book of the Duchess and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Some of these texts will be culled to form the "Seminar Research Shelf." This list is by no means exhaustive; please use the library catalogue links below for more detailed research.

2. Online Library Catalogues

IDS Basel/Bern Bibliothekskatalog

Andere Kataloge der StUB und der Universität

Virtuelle Bibliothek: Bibliotheken und Buchhandel der Schweiz


3. Medieval Authors and Texts

  • MEDIEVAL WOMEN

    Medieval Feminist Index
    A searchable online database dealing with all aspects of medieval feminist scholarship.


  • CHAUCER

    Studies in the Age of Chaucer Bibliography
    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 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."

    The Chaucer MetaPage
    The central site for anything to do with Chaucer. Prof. Hanly is a participant in the MetaPage project.

     

  • SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

    Dr. Deborah Schwartz's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Resources page
    An excellent resource; see also her "Backgrounds to Courtly Love" site

    The Cotton Nero A X Project
    Have a look: a fascinating project directed by the brilliant Murray McGillivray regarding the Gawain manuscript at the British Library (Cotton Nero A.x)

    Paul E. Szarmach and M. Teresa Tavormina, Encyclopedia article on the Pearl-Poet
    Two fine medievalists; lots of good information

    A brief annotated bibliography on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
    A good place to start

     

  • MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS

    A brief encyclopedia article on Middle English Lyrics
    (from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes [1907-21], vol. 1, "From the Beginnings to the Cycles of Romance.")

     

  • GENERAL

    The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
    A very full collection of links regarding medieval culture.

    The Medieval Review
    A collection of electronic reviews of books that can be both browsed and searched, covering the entire realm of medieval studies. Very useful.

    COURSE MATERIALS


    1. Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), excerpts from Amores (The Loves)and Ars amatoria (The Art of Love).

    I can direct you to online versions of the Latin text of these poems, but no suitable English (or German) translation exists on the Web, so I'll have to provide you with photocopies. You should, in any case, check out this astonishing German website on Ovid. It has many of the Heroides and other Ovidian texts in German translation, but unfortunately not the ones we need for this Seminar.

    2. St. Augustine, De doctrina Christiana, selections from Book I

  • An essential text on Christian love; introduction to the concepts of "use" (uti) and "enjoyment" (frui). The Latin text of these excerpts is also provided.

    Please read this before we meet.


    3. Links Related to Chaucer and Medieval Studies

  • my list of web resources relevant to a variety of medieval fields and topics.


    4. Medieval Themes and Topics

  • a list of useful definitions I assembled for students in medieval courses.



    REQUIRED TEXTS

    I have selected the collection entitled Middle English Lyrics edited by Richard L. Hoffman and Maxwell Luria in the "Norton Critical Editions" series (W.W. Norton, 1974).

    The edition of Middle English Verse Romances edited by D.B. Sands (University of Exeter Press, 1987) contains all the texts we require.

    We'll use James Winny's excellent edition and page-facing translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Broadview Press, 1992).

    Our text of The Book of the Duchess will be that found in Larry Benson, et al., eds., The Riverside Chaucer (1988), new edition, paperback. If you do not already own this volume, I will provide a xerox of the required pages.

     



    OTHER LINKS

    Michael Hanly's Home Page (includes links to other course websites, etc.)

    English Department, Universität Bern