Readings in Latin Literature (310-0-2)

Topic

Medieval Classicism

Instructors

Richard Kieckhefer
491-2614
1860 Campus Drive, Crowe Hall # 4-141

Meeting Info

Kresge 4364 Classics Sem Rm: Mon, Wed, Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

Overview of class

Late ancient and medieval Christian authors might wrestle with the implications of pagan literature, but they were deeply steeped in it, and they kept reinventing classical Latin culture. They did so in four main stages: (1) First there were writers of late antiquity who were in direct continuity with classical Latin tradition and gave it Christian inflection. (2) Then there were Carolingian writers of (roughly) the 9th century who, having become aware of a distinction between Latin and the emerging Romance languages, self-consciously sought to revive classical language and literature. (3) Twelfth-century poets experimented with new forms but were deeply conscious of what they viewed nostalgically as the lost culture of Latin antiquity. (4) Humanist writers of the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries, beginning in Italy, self-consciously reasserted what they viewed as classical alternatives to Scholastic and other recent trends. Apart from self-conscious revivals of classical Latin culture, there was what might be called simply survival of early literary tradition; in early medieval England, for example, standards of Latin learning remained high, and authors who built on classical sources did so in a spirit more of continuity than of revival.

Class Materials (Required)

All the readings will be in a photocopy book available on Canvas and at Quartet Copies.

Class Notes

Starting November 21st please use the following link to sign up for the Waitlist for this course: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgNXUVYG7rEhw2GYZKZNcGbBp4oiQmWHkb0wKQTzRjgj5pHA/viewform

Class Attributes

Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area