This module complements and deepens the study of texts and issues from the period c. 1350-1650 on the Medieval & Renaissance Core Module. It introduces students to issues relevant to the developing scholarly field known as the History of Reading and in so doing provides a springboard onto independent undergraduate and postgraduate study in this field. Its focus raises important questions regarding the nature of the literatures available to the mass of the population in the period c. 1350-1650; the contents of these literatures; the occasions they were read; and the cognitive processes involved with reading them.

How did people read? What did they read? What could they read? Can we talk about a "psychology" of reading during this period? What changes and transitions were there across this period which had an impact on reading? How significant is the invention of printing? How and when did people learn to read? What does a text look like and what does popular literature look like in general? How does the appearance of a particular text or groups of texts relate to its contents? How are illustrations used? This module is an introduction to the types of literature that medieval and early modern people actually read. We will look at primary sources, thinks about what (if any), theories of reading are useful, and we will develop some skills in analysing the handwriting and printed fonts used in the medieval and early modern periods, using worked examples in the module handbook. The module takes examples from four categories of literature: "Moral & Political", "Practical", "Spiritual", and "Romance". The literatures survive as manuscripts, pamphlets, scraps and fragments, "small merry books", single sheet illustrated flyers. They are politically committed, intense, humorous, scandalous, moving. The module is structured so that each theme is addressed in relation to literatures from the whole chronological period covered (C. 1350-1650). This structure encourages students to make comparisons between different versions and forms of text and to understand these in relation to the historical/cultural contexts of production and circulation, and reception. The module is assessed by two assignments. The first is a 3000 word essay. The second is a "Transcription and Research Project" which will involve students in transcribing and analyzing one from a choice of 5 set passages of text in facsimile. The analysis will be guided by a set of 5 "Project Questions" prompting the coverage of a set of specific issues concerning use, meaning, context and format.