Feminising the Word (P00437)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : LLC-P-P00437

In the first part of the course students will investigate how 'Woman' and the subject of the feminine is represented in a range of key texts from British and European literature of the Middle Ages. In exploring how medieval literature represents 'Woman' in aesthetic, rhetorical and philosophical terms, students will also encounter key historical and cultural concepts of the period such as courtly love and the querelle des femmes debate as well as evaluating the usefulness of contemporary feminist and theoretical approaches to the subject. In the second part of the course, students are introduced to the writing of four key medieval women writers (Christine de Pisan, Marie de France, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe), thereby exploring the nature of female creativity in a variety of genres and modes.

Entry Requirements

? Costs : Purchase of essential texts as required.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

English Literature, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : To be arranged/Unknown

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

? Other Required Attendance : 2 hour(s) per week for 1 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

To investigate the artistic, cultural and philosophical importance of gender in British and European literature from the period c1100-1500.
To evaluate critically and theoretically how and why 'Woman' and the feminine is represented in a variety of different literary genres (eg. romance; rhetorical and polemical prose; saints' lives; amatory poetry).
To understand the distinctive and problematic nature of female creativity in the Middle Ages, and the particular social, historical, and cultural contexts which foster it; and demonstrate the different ways in which women moulded and shaped artistic and rhetorical conventions to express their purpose in a variety of texts (eg. devotional, erotic, polemical).