Postgraduate Course: Love and Death: Chivalry in Medieval France (CLLC11187)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will explore the depiction of chivalry and the chevalier in a range of Old French and Occitan texts dating from the late 11th to the 13th century. It will focus on a range of texts, in particular epic and romance (as well as their parodies), to provide an overview of the image of the knight as lover and as warrior and how this doubled function is problematised differently in different genres. The literary depiction of the knight will be read against the historical reality of chivalry, and the knight's role in the text will be explored in relation to that of his lady to provide a gendered reading of chivalric identity. |
| Course description |
This course will place the literary construction of the figure and role of the knight in the context of the historical development of chivalry. Students will examine the construction of the chivalric ideal across a range of texts dating from the late 11th century and the earliest known written epic in French, the Chanson de Roland, to the 13th century and the Mort le roi Artu, a prose romance that marks the death of King Arthur and the demise of the Knights of the Round Table.
Seminars will focus on the depiction of the knight in different genres: epic, romance, lai and troubadour poetry, moving from the earlier to the later texts and examining the changing nature of the knight's depiction in response to the social and literary context . The relationship between the role of the knight as warrior and as lover will be explored, and the construction of chivalric identity will be read against the role of the female characters in the text.
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. gain insight into a key aspect of High Medieval culture and literature
2. develop an appreciation of the contrasts and interplay between different literary genres
3. be able to compare different types of literary source material and relate these to the social, political and religious context of the period
4. develop their ability to compare, contrast and analyse primary texts in the light of a broad range of secondary material drawn from diverse scholarly disciplines
5. develop their ability to present their ideas clearly both orally, through seminar presentations, and in writing
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- gain insight into a key aspect of High Medieval culture and literature
- develop an appreciation of the contrasts and interplay between different literary genres
- compare different types of literary source material and relate these to the social, political and religious context of the period
- develop their ability to compare, contrast and analyse primary texts in the light of a broad range of secondary material drawn from diverse scholarly disciplines
- develop their ability to present their ideas clearly both orally, through seminar presentations, and in writing
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | medieval French,chivalry,love,death,gender |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Fionnuala Sinclair
Tel: (0131 6)50 8423
Email: Finn.Sinclair@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Alexandra Marie Aedo Mezeul
Tel: (0131 6)50 3702
Email: alex.aedomezeul@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage