Module Information

Module Identifier

EN31220

Module Title

Society,Sexuality and Subversion in the Middle Ages

Academic Year

2016/2017

Co-ordinator

Dr Malte Urban

Semester

Semester 2

Other Staff

Dr Malte Urban

Course Delivery

Delivery Type	Delivery length / details
Seminar	10 x 2 Hour Seminars

Assessment

Assessment Type	Assessment length / details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	2 essays (2,500 words each) Continuous Assessment:	100%
Supplementary Assessment	Resubmit any failed elements and/or make good any missing elements. Where this involves re-submission of work, a new topic must be selected.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module students should typically be able to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of a range of late medieval texts in English;

2. describe and analyse a range of late medieval literary forms and genres;

3. demonstrate an understanding of late medieval English culture and history;

4. analyse a range of late medieval texts in English in relation to current critical and theoretical debates;

5. demonstrate an understanding of late medieval literary English.

Brief description

Focusing on works by Chaucer, Langland and the Gawain-poet, this module will challenge the myth that medieval literature was much more straightforward than modern literature by looking at the way in which society, orthodoxy, gender and sexuality are constructed within the set texts and by considering the extent to which certain of these texts are socially subversive, sexually transgressive or potentially heretical.

This module is accessible to anyone interested in reading medieval texts and in locating the literature of the time in its social and historical context. It will also introduce a range of approaches to Medieval English poetry from more traditional criticism to Marxist, deconstructionist, feminist and postmodern readings. Such readings illustrate that medieval literature remains of relevance in the 21st century.