Syllabus and Readings

Welcome to 

ENGL 343: Writing in the Ruins - Early Medieval Literature in Britain

The clash of blade on the shield-wall – Grendel’s monstrous form looming through the mist – the Dragon’s roar – Odin’s blood on the world-tree – the broken ruin of a Roman town - rumours of a new God from across the sea – the song of Raven and Wolf – the first sounds of a Te Deum in a new built church – the blood cries of the sea-wolves – the lament for the passing of an age.

The literary landscape of Early Medieval Britain (c. 497 AD – 1066 AD) is linguistically and culturally diverse, a record of profound cultural change over the span of five centuries. This course is designed to introduce students to the multilingual literatures of Early Medieval Britain, a period that saw the birth of English as a language and as a literature, but one that was always is dialogue with the other languages of the British Isles.  Primarily focusing upon the surviving literature of the Anglo-Saxons (recorded in various dialects of Old English (cf. ENGL 340)), the course will also introduce students to selections of Welsh, Norse, and Latin literature from the early medieval period (all texts will be read in modern English translation).

The early British Middle Ages, often simplistically named the ‘Anglo-Saxon period’, was a complex geography of cultural and linguistic intermixture. While the colonizing pagan Anglo-Saxons (from the early sixth century onwards) eventually came to dominate the lowland areas of Britain that now encompass England, the culture and literature of the Celtic peoples survived and thrived in the West (Wales) and the North. To this mix we add the culture of the Scandinavian peoples, who came first to burn and raid, but later to settle and conquer. Interweaving with all these vernaculars was the international language of medieval Europe, the Latin of the Church and (by default) of international intellectual culture. This course will seek to understand the origins of English literature in its profoundly multilingual and postcolonial contexts.


Course Expectations:

The minimum expectations for the course will be (a) that you come to class having read the required texts, (b) that you have thought critically about the texts, and arrive ready to ask questions and engage in discussion, and (c) that you actively engage with the process of building a community of co-learners with your peers. I will also endeavour to arrive ready to engage in discussion of these fascinating texts, and will strive to act as both guide and fellow pilgrim in our mutual journey of exploration.

This class will be an electronic device-free zone. Laptops, tablets, and cell-phones will not be permitted to be used in class unless explicitly called for. If you require the use of a laptop for reasons of Access and Diversity, please let me know.  If you would like to know more about my reasons for having an electronic device free classroom, please read the follwoing two articles:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/09/25/why-a-leading-professor-of-new-media-just-banned-technology-use-in-class/

and
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/18/opinion/sunday/lecture-me-really.html?_r=3

Assessment: One midterm (20%); one research essay (30%); one exam (50%).

Midterm: Wednesday 10th February

Research Essay: due Monday 4th April, in class. 

This research essay should be c. 2500 words. It should make use of secondary criticism, and will a theme or area of interest the extends across one or more texts.  Penalties for late submission of the research essay will be 5% per day (unless an extension has been agreed beforehand, or in case of medical emergency).

Required Text: The Longman Anthology of Old English, Old Icelandic, and Anglo-Norman Literatures (Longman, 2011). There will be some additional online readings linked through this course blog.

Professor Robert Rouse
Department of English
robert.rouse@ubc.ca

Order of readings: see individual weekly blog posts.