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Semester 2

Medieval Bodies: Integrity, Rupture and Metamorphosis (Ordinary) (ELCF09036)

Subject

European Languages and Cultures - French

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

3

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

In order to be eligible to take 3rd/4th Year Options, Visiting Students should have the equivalent of at least two years of study at University level of the appropriate language(s) and culture(s).

Course Summary

This course focuses on the body in the Middle Ages as a site where different discourses were played out, a symbolic space that could be figured as either whole and integral, or unstable and unpredictable. The image of the body in medieval European cultures was open to the influence of ideology, politics, religion, and gender hierarchies, and while often presented in terms of oppositions: human and animal, body and spirit, male and female,

Course Description

Academic Description: The course aims to enrich students' awareness of the diversity of medieval French 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 to the body. In order to achieve this, the course introduces students to medieval French texts from different genres, and which date from the 11th to the 14th century. Through the study of these texts, the perception and depiction of the body will be explored, considering the importance of genre, social and historical context, patronage and audience. Texts studied: the Roman de Silence presents a strikingly modern take on the idea of gender as a cultural construct; the fabliaux (short comic tales) play, quite literally, with the idea of the fragmented body, as body parts become detached from their owners, proliferate, and even speak; human/animal metamorphosis reveals the anxiety (or lack thereof) displayed in texts that destabilise the boundaries of the human; and spirituality and madness are seen as two very different ways of separating the human body from human identity. The reading and interpretation of the body in these texts will be considered in the light of contemporary philosophical and religious beliefs and theories, and will be related to modern-day critical and gender theory. This will enable students to engage with, and appreciate, the relationship between the body, subjectivity and notions of identity, and how this is shaped by culture and society. They will also be able to evaluate the evolution or continuity of these ideas across time. The course will pay specific attention to the study of the roles played by different images of the body in medieval texts, and will question what shapes our physical, symbolic and subjective identity, and how the notion of 'being human' is constituted within its cultural framework. Syllabus/Outline Content: The course will cover selected medieval French texts from various genres (romance, lai, hagiography, fabliaux) in order to present a range of different depictions of the body in different contexts. This will allow for the exploration of inter-connected questions relating to gender as a cultural construct, the boundaries and definition of the human (as opposed to the animal), the construction of identity, and the mind/body relation. The course will introduce relevant critical and theoretical studies in the field of medieval literature and culture in order to open out the study of the medieval texts and relate this study to issues in modern society. Student Learning Experience Information: The course consists of ten two-hour seminars, one each week of the semester. At the beginning of the course and at the beginning of those seminars in which a new text is being introduced, a short lecture-style introduction will be given in order to situate the course and text in context. Students will be required to read and prepare sections of the primary set text and selected critical reading before each seminar. Students will work in small autonomous learning groups and will take turns to prepare short presentations on the scheduled reading for each seminar. Students will have the opportunity to demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes through participation in the interactive discussions, assessed written work, and the examination.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

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