ENGL 797 (M1) - Special Studies in Literature

SpcStudy/Medieval Otherworlds

Manchester   Liberal Arts :: English
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Credits: 4.0
Term: Spring 2023 - UNHM Credit (15 weeks) (01/24/2023 - 05/08/2023)
Grade Mode: Letter Grading
Class Size:   8  
CRN: 56498
A) Old English Literature, B) Medieval Literature, C) 16th Century, D) 17th Century, E) 18th Century, f) English Romantic Period, G) Victorian Period, H) 20th Century, I) Drama, J) Novel, K) Poetry, L) Non-fiction, M) American Literature, N) A Literary Problem, O) Literature of the Renaissance, R) Race and Racial Theories. The precise topics and methods of each section vary. Barring duplication of subject, may be repeated for credit. For details, see the course descriptions available in the English department.
Section Comments: Cross listed with ENGL 800
Registration Approval Required. Contact Instructor or Academic Department for permission then register through Webcat.
Repeat Rule: May be repeated for a maximum of 8 credits.
Cross listed with : ENGL 800.M1
Attributes: Writing Intensive Course
Instructors: Susan Walsh

Times & Locations

Start Date End Date Days Time Location
1/24/2023 5/8/2023 MW 11:01am - 12:30pm PANDRA P531
Additional Course Details: 

    MEDIEVAL OTHERWORLDS  

This course considers major works of medieval literature from Japan and Europe in which the “natural” and the “supernatural” meet. We’ll take up questions of religion and magic, gender and shapeshifting, love and seduction, heroism and ethical testing, power and subjection, in a range of works:  Japanese animal and demon tales, as well as excerpts from Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji; the Lais of Marie de France; the Gawain poet’s Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

We’ll also read or view modern re-imaginings of these famous works, for instance Zadie Smith’s short play The Wife of Willesden, David Lowery’s film The Green Knight, and Lauren Groff’s novel Matrix.

The class may be particularly valuable for future teachers wishing to expand their expertise in early literature. Students from majors other than English Studies are very welcome and may find the subject matter of interest.

English 797, Special Studies in Literature: Medieval Otherworlds is a Writing Intensive course. At UNH Manchester, it fulfills the pre-1800 literature requirement for the Literary Studies option within the Literary Arts & Studies / English Studies major. Prerequisite: English 419, or instructor’s permission. May be repeated for credit, up to a maximum of 8 credits, provided that content is not significantly duplicated. 

 

The Tale of Genji (Penguin Classics, 2016), Abridged, Royall Tyler editor, Murasaki Shikibu, author; ISBN-13: ‎ 9780143039495

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (W. W. Norton & Company, 2008), A New Verse Translation by Simon Armitage;  ISBN-13: ‎ 9780393334159

The Lais of Marie de France: Text and Translation (Broadview Editions, 2018), Claire Waters, editor and translator; ISBN-13: ‎ 9781554810826

Matrix: A Novel (Riverhead Books, 2022), Lauren Groff; ISBN-13‏: ‎ 9781594634505