Postgraduate Course: Chaucerian Romance (ENLI11162)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | English Literature |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course introduces students to the romances of Geoffrey Chaucer, and explores the ways in which Chaucer appropriated and re-worked romance literary conventions to decidedly un-romantic ends. While Chaucer observes the narrative conventions of romance, he seems to be sceptical about its aesthetic values, and he interrogates its representations of gender and class relationships. The course examines the ways in which Chaucer turns romance against itself, using the romance form as a vehicle for questioning and critiquing inherited romance values. But in addition to exploring the literary self-consciousness of Chaucerian romance, and its critical engagement with courtly notions of class, gender, and sexuality, the course also considers Chaucer?s use of romance to explore broader philosophical questions such as the relationship of human free will to divine providence, and the compatibility of divine justice with human suffering. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| Students who have successfully completed the course will have acquired a knowledge of the principal works of Geoffrey Chaucer, and will have an understanding both of the literary conventions of medieval romance, and of how Chaucer adopted and adapted these conventions for his own aesthetic and intellectual ends. In addition, students will be able to place Chaucer?s romances in a range of extra-literary contexts ? for example, philosophical, political, and social ? and will have acquired an understanding of the ways in which Chaucer uses the romance form to reflect upon and engage with these broader cultural concerns. |
Assessment Information
| 4000 Word Essay (100%) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | ChRo |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr David Salter
Tel: (0131 6)50 3055
Email: David.Salter@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms June Haigh
Tel: (0131 6)50 3612
Email: j.haigh@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage