Ideas of Ethnicity in Medieval Literature
ENGL 353
Spring 2012 not offered
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| Crosslisting:
MDST 353 |
This course concerns works that speak to premodern ideas of ethnicity. Our focus will be on a selection of medieval texts dealing with the encounters of Western European Christians with Jews, Muslims, and other cultures--real or imaginary. The readings will begin historically with the Crusades and the chronicles written by Christian, Muslim, and Jewish authors. Other genres will include religious polemics, autobiographical narratives of religious conversion, and travel accounts by missionaries and spies. We will also read some early "ethnographic" writings like Gerald of Wales' HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF IRELAND and Mandeville's TRAVELS. The greater part of the course will deal with literary texts--romances, plays, lyrics, etc.--but we will take a truly "cultural studies" approach to this material. |
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Essential Capabilities:
Intercultural Literacy, Interpretation
This course deals with, among other things, an early period in intercultural relations between Western European Christians, Middle Eastern Muslims and Diaspora Jews--the Crusade era. Students will work on textual interpretation in frequent writing assignments.
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA ENGL |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CJST-MN)(CSCT)(ENGL)(MDST)(MDST-Art/Arch)(MDST-History)(MDST-Lang/Lit)(MDST-Phil/Reli) |
Major Readings:
Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Crusade chronicles; SONG OF ROLAND, THE CONQUEST OF ORANGE, THE QUEST OF THE HOLY GRAIL, the Hebrew "KING ARTHUR" romance; Gerald of Wales, HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF IRELAND; Memoirs of Usama Ibn Munquidh, THE JOURNEY OF WILLIAM OF RUBRUCK TO ASIA; TRAVELS OF SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly response papers; final research paper. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course fulfills the Literatures of Difference requirement toward the English major. |
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