Medieval French Literature
Instructor:
D. Kullmann
Description:
A discovery of French medieval literature through the theme of men and women. The relationship between the sexes will be the leading idea in our interpretation of representative texts from different genres and periods, such as the heroic world of the chansons de geste, the ribald and burlesque humour of the animal epic and the fabliaux, the subtleties of courtly lyric, the wonders of Arthurian romance, the psychology of courtly tales, or the feminist self-assertion of a Christine de Pisan. Selected texts will be studied in bilingual versions. No previous knowledge of Old or Middle French is needed.
Required texts:
La Vie de saint Alexis en ancien français. Traduit en français moderne, éd. Maurizio Perugi, trad. Valérie Fasseur, Maurizio Perugi, Genève: Droz, 2017 (Texte courant); Chrétien de Troyes, Erec et Enide, éd. Jean-Marie Fritz, Paris: Le Livre de Poche 1992 (Lettres gothiques) ; Marie de France, Lais, éd. Warnke/Harf-Lancner, Paris : Le livre de poche1990 (Lettres gothiques) ; La Châtelaine de Vergy, éd. de Jean Dufournet et Liliane Dulac, Paris : Gallimard 1994 (Folio classique). Extracts from other texts will be provided.
Assignments and evaluation:
Two in-class short tests (2 x 15 % = 30 %), an oral presentation on one of the shorter narratives (30 %), a written term paper (30 %), overall assessment, including preparedness and participation (10 %). Students will sometimes be required to read extracts from secondary literature between one session and the next.
Prerequisite:
FRE 240H1/FRE245H, FRE241H1/FRE246H1.