Studies in Medieval Literature (422-0-20)
Topic
The Global Middle Ages
Instructors
Barbara Jane Newman
847/491-5679
University Hall 215
Meeting Info
University Hall 418: Tues 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
The term "Middle Ages"—the period "in the middle" between classical antiquity and the Renaissance—derives from European history, and it's problematic even there. But the global turn in medieval studies enables us to go beyond the field's traditional focus on Europe alone to explore its ties with the rest of the known world. In this course we'll do that in two ways. Our first unit will deal with romance, gender, and the aesthetics of eroticism. Court ladies feature as foundational romance authors in two island nations, England and Japan, at opposite ends of the Eurasian land mass. After reading the Lais of Marie de France (12th century) and selections from the Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu (11th century), we'll complicate our study with two transgender romances: Heldris of Cornwall's Silence and a Japanese tale translated by Rosette Willig as The Changelings. In our second unit, dealing with travel and ethnography, we'll consider two Islamic and two European works: The Book of Ibn Fadlan (921-22), The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck (1253-55), The Travels of Ibn Battutah (1325-54), and The Book of John Mandeville (ca. 1356). Critical readings will include literary essays on the French and Japanese texts, as well as excerpts from Geraldine Heng, The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages; Shayne Aaron Legassie, The Medieval Invention of Travel; and Shirin Khanmohamadi, In Light of Another's Word: European Ethnography in the Middle Ages.
Class Materials (Required)
The Lais of Marie de France, ed. and trans. Claire Waters (Broadview) - 978-1-55481-082-6
Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji (abridged), ed. and trans. Royall Tyler (Penguin) - 978-0-14-303949-0
Heldris of Cornwall, Silence, ed. and trans. Sarah Roche-Mahdi (Michigan State UP) - 0-937191-32-9
Torikaebaya monogatari (The Changelings), trans. Rosette Willig - on Canvas
Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness, trans. Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone (Penguin) - 978-0-140-45507-6
The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, trans. Peter Jackson (Hackett) - 978-0-87220-981-7
The Travels of Ibn Battutah, ed. and trans. Tim Mackintosh-Smith (Picador) - 978-0-330-41879-9
The Book of John Mandeville, ed. and trans. Iain MacLeod Higgins (Hackett) - 978-0-87220-935-0