WiSe 20/21: PS-Medieval English Literatures: Female Voices
Lea von der Linde
Comments
The aim of this course is to explore questions of gender and genre, as well as the roles attributed to, constructed, and performed by female characters in texts from various points in time during the Middle Ages. We will read and discuss female voices and performances of female characters in medieval English texts, covering examples from the Old English corpus as well as a selection of Middle English writings. We will read all our texts in their original languages and, if necessary, also in translation. The texts do not only include such that feature female protagonists; women also play crucial roles in texts that have male heroes at their centre, as we will see when discussing our first text of the semester, the Old English epic Beowulf.
Students attending this course are expected to have read Beowulf in translation by the beginning of the semester, preferably the prose translation by E. Talbot Donaldson (Donaldson, E. Talbot, trans. Beowulf: A Prose Translation; Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism. Ed. Nicholas Howe. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2002). Additional readings and materials will be announced during the course of the semester.
The course will be taught exclusively online via WebEx.
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Regular appointments