106-414 Medieval Representations

Formerly available as 106-075. Students who have completed 106-075 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Usually admission to the postgraduate diploma or fouth year honours in English or English language, see Honours entry.

This subject examines forms of representation and textuality in late medieval English writing and culture. We will focus on the representations of love, gender and war in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and on the representations of class violence and the monarchy in the texts surrounding the Uprising of 1381. Students will be introduced to some medieval theories of verbal and visual representation, but we will also test some modern theories of representation and the gaze in relation to medieval texts and the afterlife of those texts in renaissance and later literature. No prior knowledge of Middle English is assumed in this subject, which is designed as an introduction to late medieval culture.

• be able to conceptualise and plan an original research project;

• be able to communicate arguments and ideas effectively and articulately, both in writing and in group discussions;

• develop critical self-awareness and the capacity to shape persuasive arguments;

• be able to apply research skills (especially in library and online resources) and critical methods to traditional and emerging fields of inquiry;

• be able to give detailed readings of a range of texts in different media;

• be able to contrast traditional and contemporary forms of knowledge about the past.

A research essay of 5000 words 100% (due at the end of the semester).

A subject reader containing texts associated with the Uprising, or 'Peasants' Revolt' of 1381, and other medieval texts, will be available.

• L Benson, The Riverside Chaucer. (gen ed).
• Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida. Oxford.