Postgraduate Course: Shakespeare's Sister: Archival Research and the Politics of the Canon. (ENLI11041)
Course Outline
| School | School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course offers students the opportunity to participate in the ongoing debates concerning the process of recovering ¿lost¿ early modern women¿s writing, and will introduce them to the practical skills of editing early modern women¿s texts. Students will be encouraged to examine the basis upon which we assign literary value to a given text, and will gain an insight into the way in which the editorial process can alter our perception of a given literary text. This course will take students through the process of locating ¿lost¿ texts, the skills needed to read them in their original format (which will include practical sessions in the EUL Special Collections and at the NLS), and the decision-making process involved in editing a text. The culmination of the course will result in the student¿s production of his/her own edition of an early modern text. While some reading is set for each week, the course encourages independent research on manuscript materials. To this end, you will receive training in palaeography (i.e. handwriting/scripts) both on-line and in seminars. Students will need to spend time in the libraries to acquire the practical skills needed to read manuscripts. Once a text has been chosen, the rest of the course trains you in the skills needed to produce a modern edition of it. Thus, this course will not only provide an insight into the process of editing early modern texts, but will also introduce students to some of the skills required in modern-day publishing houses. |
| Course description |
Week 1 Introduction
Week 2 Reading Early Modern Texts I: Print
Week 3 Reading Early Modern Texts II: Manuscripts
Week 4 Locating texts: a practical session in how to find ¿lost¿ material (both in EUL/NLS and on-line catalogues)
Week 5 Choosing a text: basis of selection and beginning transcription.
Week 6 Current Debates: the politics of the canon and literary value
Week 7 To modernise, or not to modernise: the politics of editorial choices.
Week 8 Framing the Text. I. The ¿Authorial¿ question.
Week 9 Framing the Text. II. Annotation and references.
Week 10 Group discussion of draft editions.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Essential course texts |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- make use of palaeographical skills
- be conversant with editorial conventions
- undertake independent research
- understand editorial methodology
- engage with ideas related to the 'History of the Book'.
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Reading List
Primary Texts
As this course is primarily concerned with the production of an edition, the majority of the texts you will need to consult are reference books that are available for consultation in the EUL and NLS. However, the book referenced below contains an outline of the information you will need and should be consulted regularly. You would, therefore, be wise to buy your own copy.
D.C. Greetham, Textual Scholarship: An Introduction. New York & London: Garland, 1994.
Secondary Reading:
- Beal, Peter & Margaret J. M. Ezell. Eds. English Manuscript Studies 1100-1700. 9. Writings by Early Modern Women. London : British Library, 2000.
- Bell, Maureen et al. A biographical dictionary of English women writers 1580-1720. London : Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990.
- Brant, Clare & Diane Purkiss. Eds. Women, Texts, Histories, 1575-1760, London: Routledge, 1992.
- Chartier, Roger. The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the Fourteenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Trans. Lydia G. Cochrane. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1994.
- Doyle, A. I., et al. Eds. Manuscript to Print: Tradition and Innovation in the Renaissance Book. Durham Univ. Lib.: Durham, 1975.
- Elsky, Martin Authorizing Words: Speech, Writing, and Print in the English Renaissance. Ithaca: Cornell UP., 1989.
- Ezell, Margaret J. M. Writing women's literary history. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
- Goldberg, Jonathan. Desiring Women Writing: English Renaissance Examples, California: Stanford University Press, 1997.
- Greetham, D. C. Textual Scholarship: An Introduction New York & London: Garland, 1994.
- Marotti, Arthur F. Manuscript, Print, and the English Renaissance Lyric. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995.
- McGann, Jerome J. The Textual Condition. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991.
- - -. Critique of Modern Textual Criticism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
- McKenzie, D. F. Bibliography and the Sociology of Texts. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999.
- Murphy, Andrew. Ed. The Renaissance Text. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000.
- Preston, Jean F. and Laeitia Yeandle. Eds. English Handwriting 1400-1650: An Introductory Manual. Asheville, North Carolina: Pegasus Press, 1999.
- Simpson, Grant G. Scottish handwriting, 1150-1650: an introduction to the reading of documents. East Linton : Tuckwell Press, 1998.
- Todd, Janet. Ed. Dictionary of British women writers. London: Routledge, 1989.
- Woods, Susanne and Margaret P. Hannay. Eds. Teaching Tudor and Stuart Women Writers. MLA, 2000. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | SS |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Suzanne Trill
Tel: (0131 6)50 4291
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Kara McCormack
Tel: (0131 6)50 3030
Email: |
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