{"id":98,"date":"2018-01-02T17:23:38","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T01:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdvl310d\/?page_id=98"},"modified":"2019-08-20T21:04:26","modified_gmt":"2019-08-21T04:04:26","slug":"syllabus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdvl310d\/syllabus\/","title":{"rendered":"SYLLABUS"},"content":{"rendered":"

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QUICK NAVIGATION: weekly schedule<\/a><\/p>\n

MEDIEVAL STUDIES 310D
\nTopics in Medieval Studies
\n“Marvels”
\n(3 credits)
\n2017 Winter Term 2
\nJanuary-April 2018
\nTuesday & Thursday 2:00-3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

INSTRUCTOR
\nDr Juliet O’Brien<\/a>
\nDepartment of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies<\/a>
\njuliet.obrien@ubc.ca
\nOffice: Buchanan Tower 728
\nOffice hours (from 8 January 2018): Monday 3-6 p.m., Tuesday 4-5 p.m., and Thursday 4-6 p.m.<\/p>\n

Description<\/b><\/p>\n

Wonder. Delight. Awe. Joy. Imagination. Marvellousness (mirabilis, merveille, merveillos<\/i>) suffuses Medieval European literature, crossing postmedieval borders of place (nation-state boundaries), time (early\/late), form (literary genre, type of artefact), audience (social class and occupation), and register (high\/low). From mermaids, giants, and unicorns to miracles, fairies, and marginal drolleries: Medieval imaginative marvels are a continuing common popular association with the period. Exploring them helps to understand perceptions of “the Medieval,” a history of those perceptions, and what “Medieval” might be itself (or themselves): worlds of speculative fictions, escapism and consolation, metamorphosis and metaphor, playfulness, weirdness, shock, horror, beauty, dark humour, satire, human values, and sheer love of life.<\/p>\n

Weekly topics and continuing themes include: perceptions of the natural world, creation and creativity, miracles, other worlds and the other-worldly, monsters, dream-visions and mysticism, the fantastic, hybridity, apocalypse, the idyllic and golden ages, utopias and other alternative worlds, automata, the nature of humanity and\/as intelligent life.<\/p>\n

Our adventures will centre on the imaginative worlds of some Medieval French texts: the Reynard<\/i> romance and selections from the writings of Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, and Fran\u00e7ois Rabelais. Other readings include bestiaries, encyclopaedias, universal histories, fables, saints’ lives, maps, almanachs, books of hours, lyric and debate poetry, games, miscellanies, and plenty of marginalia. While our principal focus will be the study of literary works, we will also explore their influence throughout Medieval Europe; the historical landscape in which these landmarks are situated; the cultural background against which their actions are staged; and their relationship to an integrated creative and intellectual environment\u2014including visual and plastic arts, music, ideas, technology, ecology, and the sciences.<\/p>\n

Classes consist of interactive lectures interspersed with discussions. Reading assignments include translations of literary works (they may of course be read in the original, but this is not expected), and digitized manuscripts and other contemporary objects freely accessible online. Assessment is based on a midterm commentary paper; a round-table short presentation followed by a student-led discussion or debate; a final research project (“making a marvel”) and its planning, bibliography, and a presentation on it; and, throughout the course, class participation and regular short commentary writing on the course blog.<\/p>\n