AJL14101 English Literature 500-1700: The Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Filip Krajník, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
PhDr. Filip Krajník, Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 18:00–19:40 G23, except Tue 14. 11.
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJL01002 Practical English II || AJ01002 Practical English II
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 17/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 12 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The course will offer a survey of the early English literature from the beginning up until the end of the 17th century. A special focus will be on the relationship between medieval and early-modern literature, and the social, political, religious and intellectual contexts in which it was originally written and received. The cultural exchange between England/Britain and the Continental Europe will also be stressed, especially the way in which various georgaphical regions influenced one another. The aim of the course is also show the emergence and development of forms and genres that were crucial not only for the development of early English literature, but also for English culture as such.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course, students will: - navigate themselves in the development of English written literature in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period; - be familiar with the main forms and genres of the covered periods and how they relate to modern English lit.; - understand the basics of pre-modern society and thinking, and how these influenced the art of the period; - have read some of the most crucial and representative works of the period(s) and will be able to explain their significance for the times when they were written and their further influence; - have deepend their ability to analyse genres such as drama or poetry, using an appropriate theoretical apparatus; - encounter various historical variants of English.
Syllabus
  • 1. Oral English Culture, Earliest English Poetry (Caedmon, The Dream of the Rood, The Seafarer) 2. Old English Epic (Beowulf) 3. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (The Miller's Tale, The Wife of Bath's Tale) 4. The Arturian Cycle (excerpts from Geoffrey of Monmouth's chronicle, Chretien de Troyes, the Gawain-Poet) 5. Female Authorship in Medieval England (Margery Kempe) 6. Elizabethan Sonnets (Shakespeare and his contemporaries) 7. English Renaissance Prose Fiction (excerpts from Philip Sidney's Arcadia and Robert Greene's Pandosto) 8. Elizabehtan Drama (Christopher Marlowe: Dr Faustus) 9. Renaissance English Utopian Writing (Thomas More and Others) 10. John Milton's Paradise Lost 11. English Restoration Drama (William Wycherley: The Country Wife) 12. Towards the English Novel (Aphra Behn: Oroonoko)
Teaching methods
Class discussions based on the assigned reading.
Assessment methods
Active participation, in-class presentation, written exam.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2023/AJL14101