- Department: Centre for Medieval Studies
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
- See module specification for other years: 2023-24
Middle English romance is the most audacious and compendious testimony to the imaginary world of the middle ages. With more than 100 extant romances, in verse and prose, it is the most important form of secular medieval literature, the origin of the modern novel, and the ancestor of almost all genres of contemporary popular fiction. The purpose of this module is to introduce you to a wide range of understudied, especially verse, romances and to explore the genre’s potential to destabilize any simple assumptions we might have about its cultural ideologies, its aesthetic codes, and its historical consciousness.
Occurrence | Teaching period |
---|---|
A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
The aim of this module is to introduce you to the most important genre of secular literature to emerge from the English Middle Ages and to help you discover its remarkable audacity.
On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
None
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 100 |
Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay of up to 2,000 words and receive written or oral feedback, as appropriate, from a tutor. For the summative essay (3500-4000 words), students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback in line with the University's turnaround policy. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required.
Student friendly editions of the romances are available online at the TEAMS Middle English Texts website (http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/tmsmenu.htm). We will read at least: Richard Coeur de Lion, Earl of Tolouse, Octovian Imperator, Undo Your Door/Squire of Lowe Degree, Chevalere Assigne, Le Bone Florence of Rome, Sir Gowther, King of Tars, Sir Degrevant, Eglamour of Artois, Libeaus Desconus, Amis and Amiloun and, for the first seminar, Bevis of Hampton (which you can find here: http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/herz.htm).
Useful places to start for critical reading are: