![]() ![]() ![]() Texts will include those that explore human/animal metamorphosis in the shape of the werewolf and the supernatural 'Mélusine' who transforms into a serpent, focusing on their relation to gender stereotypes and courtly ideology. All texts will be studied in English translation, but editions in the original language will also be recommended. The course will focus on literary texts composed and circulated in northern France and England from the 12th to the 15th century. ![]() The question of what makes a human 'human' was of particular interest in the Middle Ages, and literary texts provided an important forum for the exploration of ideas about the human/animal divide, supernatural versus natural beings, nature versus nurture in the creation of gender identity (women often being viewed as lesser, imperfect versions of men), and the cultural perception of madness and its relation to identity. The course aims to enrich students' awareness of the diversity of medieval literary texts and how these explore issues that are still extremely pertinent today, such as how we define 'human', how our notion of gender is culturally constructed, and how human consciousness and the human sense of subjectivity and identity relate both to the mind and to the physical body. The course will examine a range of medieval texts drawn from different genres in Latin, Middle English, Anglo-Norman and French literature from the 12th to the 15th century (in translation) and will primarily explore the oppositions human/animal, mind/body, masculine/feminine, addressed through the themes of metamorphosis, the supernatural, madness and gender performance. Medieval literature provided a space where philosophical, ideological and medical discourses about the body, gender, and identity could be reflected, explored, or subverted, allowing insight into questions that preoccupied or troubled medieval society. This course focuses on the definition of the human self in the Middle Ages and the different ways in which notions of 'selfhood' and the human are perceived and explored in medieval literary texts. ![]() School of Literatures, Languages and CulturesĬollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Undergraduate Course: Boundaries of the Human: gender, madness and werewolves in medieval literature (CLLC10008) Course Outline School DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures : Common Courses (School of Lit, Lang and Cult) ![]()
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