Falling in Love in the Middle Ages (U02772)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-4-U02010

This course examines a range of texts in diverse genres composed in medieval Europe from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, exploring how love, eroticism, and sexuality are portrayed and considering their aesthetic, cultural, and philosophical significance. Particular attention is given to the concept of courtly love and its development; the relationship between gender and desire; and the interplay between sacred and secular ideas of love.

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

? Pre-requisites : Passes in Enlgish or Scottish Literature 1, and English or Scottish or American Literature 2, with a mark of 50 or above at the first attempt in the second year course. Passes in third year courses in the subject area amounting to at least 40 credits.

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Numbers are limited to 15, with priority given to students taking degrees involving English or Scottish Literature and Visiting Students placed by the Admissions Office. Students not in these categories need the written approval of the Head of English Literature before enrolling. In the case of excess applications places will be decided by ballot..

? Costs : Essential course texts.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

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

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 4th year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

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

? Other Required Attendance : 1 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	14:00	14:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

- to introduce students to a variety of medieval prose and poetic texts from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries composed in medieval Europe and Britain, including classical works by Dante and Chaucer, and also a number of lesser known texts
- to introduce students to a diversity of medieval genres including 'theoretical' works about love; lyric poetry; prose romance; dream poetry; philosophical vision; 'mystical' writing;
- to explore how the subject of human love manifests itself in the Middle Ages. In what ways are imaginative representations of eros culturally specific or culturally 'transcendent'? What exactly is the nature, and legacy, of medieval love?
- By the end of the course, through close readings of chosen texts, students will understand a range of issue such as: the concept of courtly love and its development through time; the relationship between gender and desire (is love articulated differently by medieval women writers?; how are desiring women portrayed in literature?); the concept of the beloved woman; and the subject of medieval men who love); Dante's revolutionary concepts of love and the feminine; the interplay between sacred/religious and secular/profane ideas of desire, how different literary genres influence, or artistically shape, the representation of love (eg. romance; dream vision; lyric); the concept of 'emotion' and 'experience' in the Middle Ages, including the question of whether we can speak of desiring 'subjectivity' or 'selfhood' in these texts; and the question of how love is experienced in bodily or physical terms; the relationship between desire and writing.