Undergraduate Course: Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Literature (ENLI10327)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces students to the range and diversity of literature created in Lowland Scotland from c1460 - 1603, allowing in-depth study of the poetry of Henryson, Dunbar, and Douglas as well as of lesser known writers from the courts of Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI. |
| Course description |
This course introduces students to the range and diversity of literature created in Lowland Scotland from c1460 - 1603, allowing in-depth study of the poetry of Henryson, Dunbar, and Douglas as well as of lesser known writers from the courts of Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI. By bridging the two periods conventionally demarcated as 'Medieval' and 'Renaissance', or early modern, it will encourage students to reflect on the artistic and intellectual usefulness or applicability of these categories in the context of Scottish writing which arguably engages in interesting and challenging ways with conventional ideas about periodicity. The course will explore the distinctiveness of creative production primarily from the Scottish royal courts of the late fifteenth to early seventeenth centuries, allowing students to engage with literary texts composed in a variety of genres, and exploring a range of both secular and sacred subjects. It will also enable students to reflect on possible affinities with, and divergences from, the impulses of English, French, and Italian literatures.
Week 1 Introduction
Week 2 Henryson: The Testament of Cresseid; Fables 1
Week 3 Henryson: Fables II; Orpheus and Eurydice
Week 4 Dunbar I: comic and satiric verse
Week 5 Dunbar II: personal and political verse
Week 6 Douglas: Eneados (extracts)
Week 7 Lyndsay (poetry); introduction to Marian literature I
Week 8 ESSAY WRITING week
Week 9 Marian Literature II; introduction to Jacobean Literature I
Week 10 Jacobean Literature II.
Week 11 Literature of the Union of the Crowns.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | A MINIMUM of 4 college/university level literature courses at grade B or above (should include no more than one introductory level literature course). Related courses such as cross disciplinary, "Freshman Seminars", civilisation or creative writing classes are not considered for admission to this course.
Applicants should also note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. In making admissions decisions preference will be given to students who achieve above the minimum requirement with the typical visiting student admitted to this course
having four or more literature classes at grade A.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
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Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
- To introduce students to a range of material by late and medieval and Renaissance Scottish writers which will expand and enrich their knowledge of these two periods from first year Scottish and English Literature courses: specifically it will enable students to explore the full range of work by major writers such as Henryson, Dunbar, and Douglas as well as introducing them to relatively unknown writers from the mid-sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries (texts will be drawn from online teaching materials and through the provision of a course anthology);
- Through detailed and in-depth analysis of material, to help foster, develop, and consolidate student's close reading and analytical skills of literature from the period pre-1600;
- To develop students' knowledge and understanding of the specific cultural, political, and historical contexts which shape and inform artistic production in Scotland between c1460 and c1603;
- To encourage students to explore the question of whether Scottish literary writing in these two periods possesses distinctive or singular aesthetic features which might suggest the interrelationship between cultural and political practices;
- To encourage students to reflect on questions of periodicity, and whether and how the categories of 'Medieval' and 'Renaissance', might meaningfully be used to understand the particular artistic and cultural trajectories of Scottish literature;
- To enable students to contextualise Scottish literature within English and European
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Reading List
| A course anthology will be provided by the course organiser in addition to the use of material online provided by TEAMS: Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages (http://www.teamsmedieval/org.) |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sarah Dunnigan
Tel: (0131 6)50 8304
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms June Haigh
Tel: (0131 6)50 3620
Email: |
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