This course explores the curious world of dreams and dreaming in the Middle Ages, the fascinating genre of the medieval dream-vision, and what it has to say about the “matter of Troy”. The story of Troy is but one of the topics that medieval dream visions address; dream visions are poems that narrate a peculiar dream in order to reflect upon a variety of issues, such as the relationship between the poet and literary tradition, truth and fiction, man and religion, artist and society. This course thus looks at the fascinating ways in which medieval writers engaged with “Trojan history” through the lens of literary dreams.

The story of Troy became central for European literature not least because it became a foundation myth for many countries after Virgil adapted Homer’s Iliad to tell the story of Rome’s foundation. According to Virgil, the Trojan Aeneas established a new empire after the city was sacked by the Greeks. Other nations laid claim to Trojan origins modeled on Virgil’s Aeneid, among them the British. In antiquity, the historicity of the Trojan War was not disputed, but even and already then, there were a multitude of interlinking representations of events which were captured in different genres and media: not only in literature but also in plastic art and pottery. Successive generations of historians, writers, compilers, translators, poets and adaptors in various cultures and languages thus had to navigate complex, and often contradictory, material. Poets of many periods, among them such illustrious figures as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and James Joyce, have questioned, but also enriched, the picture as part of their own writing.

The Troy material could perhaps best be described, in medievalist Emily Wingfield’s words, as “a tapestry weaving together different strands of the same narrative fragment” – strands that are made up of “micro-narrative histories of several generations of infamous characters such as Jason and Medea, Troilus and Criseyde, and Dido and Aeneas, characters whose stories can exist both in isolation and as parts of a larger whole”.

This course will concentrate on the works of arguably the most celebrated English poet of the Middle Ages: Geoffrey Chaucer. Although he is most associated with his Canterbury Tales, dream visions make up an important part of Chaucer’s works. Our focus will be on three of his four surviving dream poems The House of Fame, The Book of the Duchess, and the Prologue of The Legend of Good Women.

Dreams were as exciting, disturbing and entertaining to the Middle Ages as they are to us now – but did people make sense of dreams the way we do? During the course of the semester, we will study ancient and medieval dream theory and its impact on the dream-vision genre, and we will also investigate the literary traditions that influenced its development. The majority of our sessions will be devoted to close readings of our set texts, paying particular attention to the various aesthetic, political, and social functions of Chaucer’s dream narratives as they engage with the story of Troy.

All participants are expected to purchase the Norton Critical Edition of Chaucer’s Dream Visions and Other Poems (ed. Kathryn L. Lynch, 2006, ISBN-10: 9780393925883) which not only provides the Middle English texts but also relevant sources (in translation), criticism and background reading. Additional material will be made available on the e-learning platform Blackboard at the beginning of term.

As book deliveries might be delayed due to the corona pandemic it is advisable to order the set text before the beginning of the semester. There are several online portals that sell used copies at an inexpensive price.

Please note: This course will be taught online only; for web-based discussions you will need Internet access in a quiet environment, a webcam and ideally a headset. All technical information will be provided at the beginning of class via Blackboard; however do not hesitate to contact me by email (m.rouse@fu-berlin.de) if you have questions regarding this course and/or technical requirements before the semester begins.