Medieval and Renaissance Studies I

Laura Kendrick
laura.kendrick@uvsq.fr

Late medieval culture as perceived through the prism of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Some subjects treated: the “estates” of medieval society; medieval ideas of character; verbal and visual “portraits”; medieval representations of power and authority; medieval literary genres; oral literature and performance; translation, adaptation and compilation in the Middle Ages; pilgrimage; Chaucer’s English; the canonization of Chaucer as the first great English poet.

A bibliography relying heavily on the vast offerings available on academic websites will be made available. The Luminarium website offers the Canterbury Tales with Middle and Modern English side by side. For a French translation, see Les Contes de Canterbury et autres œuvres, André Crépin et al. (dir.), Paris : Laffont, 2010 (disponible à la BU).

Weekly readings and discussion. An oral exposé and annotated bibliography on a background subject of the student’s choice contextualizing some aspect of Chaucer’s work in order to better understand it. Both M1 and M2 students will have a final individual oral exam on the course readings. Those enrolled in the seminar while teaching or studying abroad will submit a final paper (to be discussed in advance by email).