The Key of Remembrance: Late Medieval Dream Vision (VS1) (U03562)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : LLC-3-U03276

The dream vision is a central genre of the late medieval period. Characterized by a set of conventions that place as much weight on the framing of the poet's material as on the material itself, it frees him from the obligation to take up a firm (moral) position towards his material. Instead, the dream vision opens up debate as to the precise significance of its subject matter, encouraging both medieval and modern readers to active engagement with the text.
The set texts will include Chaucer's early poetry and several English and Scottish works that are often said to belong to a 'Chaucerian' tradition, alongside Pearl, extracts from Piers Plowman, and the idiosyncratic, parodic, or political adaptations of the dream vision in the work of writers such as Henryson and Skelton. It will raise questions concerning the relation between the poet and the literary past, the relation between self-fashioning and literary convention, the relation between God and man, the relation between truth and fiction, and the relation between the poet and society. It will also show how the use of a genre over a period of time becomes a means of enabling new modes of thought as well as reflecting existing ones.

Entry Requirements

? This course is only available to part year visiting students.

? This course is a variant of the following course : U03321

? Pre-requisites : Passes in English 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.

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Numbers are limited and students taking degrees not involving English or Scottish literature need the written approval of the head of English Literature.

? Costs : Essential course texts.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

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

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Not being delivered

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

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

? Additional Class Information : Weekly 1-hour Autonomous Learning Group at times to be arranged

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Students successfully completing the course will develop:
* a familiarity with a range of of English and Scottish medieval dream-vision literature
* an ability to assess the formal traditons of dream-vision poetry of the period and the variety of uses to which they are put
* an understanding of how dream form of the period engages with questions of literary authority, truth and fiction, and the exploration of religious, political and social issues
* an awareness of the critical discussion, medieval and modern, relating to the genre