BBNAN03000 Cultural-Historical Module

Concepts of the Other World in Medieval England

Cultural-Historical Module

Concepts of the Other World in Medieval England

Course Code: BBNAN03000

Lectures: Mon 10.00-11.30, Amb 126

Lecturer: Karáth Tamás ()

Office hours: Wed 11.45-12.30 (Amb 133)

Welcome to this course!

This lecture series invites you to explore medieval concepts of worlds beyond the perceivable human sphere. The course will not restrict the concept of the other world only to “afterlife”, but will consider all imaginations of worlds and visionary realms before/during and after human life. Our topics will include medieval cosmology, dreams, visions, mystical experiences, near-death experiences, journeys to fantasy worlds and the conceptualizations of eternal life (Heaven, Purgatory, Hell, and alternative salvation theories). The discussion of these issues will be based on the literary representations of the other world in medieval England, as well as non-literary sources to find out more about the background of the cultural and social constructs of the other world.

Exam

The obligatory readings are indicated in the course calendar under each week’s topic. The lecture will be concluded by an oral exam consisting of two parts. The first part of the exam will be the presentation of one of the lecture topics. You will have to prepare for all topics, and you will be given one at the exam:

(1)Visions of the other world in Anglo-Saxon England

(2)Old English dream visions

(3)The birth of Purgatory

(4)Middle English visions of Purgatory

(5)Revelations of Heaven on the medieval stage

(6)Revelations of Hell on the medieval stage

(7)Medieval English mystics and the vision of God

(8)The visions of Margery Kempe

(9)Medieval dream visions

(10)Medieval visions of salvation

In the second part of the colloquy, you will be asked to discuss one of the obligatory texts and one of the critical works that you have not involved in the presentation.

Assessment of the course

The final grade will be the average of the grades of the first and second parts of the exam.

Course calendar with obligatory readings

15 Sep – Concepts of the other world – then and now: Medieval cosmology

22 Sep – Visions of the other world in Anglo-Saxon England

Readings: (1) Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People V.12 (Dryhthelm) (Penguin Classics edition, pp. 284-89; Faculty Library shelf-mark: 325.590)

(2) Andrew Rabin, “Bede, Dryhthelm, and the Witness to the Other World” Modern Philology 106 (2009): 375-398 (JSTOR)

29 Sep – Old English dream visions

Readings: (1) “The Dream of the Rood” (in An Anthology of Medieval English Literature. Ed. by Halácsy Katalin. Piliscsaba: PPCU, 1999, pp. 17-20; Faculty Library shelf-mark: 249.932)

(2) Caedmon’s story from Bede’s Ecclesiastical History(Caedmon’s Hymn) IV.23-24 (Penguin Classics edition, pp. 243-51)

(3) Halácsy Katalin, “Miracle-working Poetry, Poetry Worth a Miracle? The Caedmon Story Yet Again” AnaChronisT 8 (2002): 1-8

6 Oct – The birth of Purgatory

Readings: (1) Aelfric, Catholic Homilies. “In Letania majore Feria tertia [On the Greater Litany Tuesday]” and “Alia Visio [Another Vision]” in The Sermones Catholici, or, Homilies of Aelfric. Ed. by Benjamin Thorpe. London: Aelfric Society, 1846, pp. 333-56.

(2) Karáth Tamás, “Faces of the Other-World in the Earliest Old English Series of Homilies: A Dogma in Formation. Two Homiletic Visions by Aelfric” in Faces of Eglish. Pázmány Papers in English and American Studies Vol. 5. Ed. by Katalin Balogné Bérces, Kinga Földváry and Veronika Schandl. Piliscsaba: PPCU, 2011, pp. 71-84.

13 Oct – Visions of Purgatory: Middle English Poems of Purgatory

Readings: (1) The Gast of Gy - Modern English translation in Cultures of Piety: Medieval English Devotional Literature in Translation. Ed. by Anne Clarke Bartlett and Thomas H. Bestul. Ithaca: CornellUniversity Press, 1999, pp. 64-84. (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 285.884)

(2) Introduction to The Gast of Gy by Edward E. Foster at http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams /text/foster-three-purgatory-poems-gast-of-gy-introduction

(3) “A Revelation of Purgatory: A Revelation Showed to a Holy Woman” in Women’s Writing in Middle English. 2nd ed. Ed. by Alexandra Barratt. Harlow: Longman, 2010, pp. 162-74. (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 292.962)

20 Oct – Revelations on the stage 1: Heaven

Readings (1): The Chester Fall of Lucifer from the Chester Mystery Cycle

(2) The Parliament of Heaven and the Annunciation from the N-Town Plays

27 Oct – Autumn break

3 Nov – Revelations on the stage 2: Hell

Readings: (1) The pageant of Pilate’s Wife from the York Mystery Plays

(2) The pageant of the Last Judgement from the York Mystery Plays

10 Nov – Medieval English Mysticism and visions of God

Readings: (1) Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love, Prologue and Chapter 15

(2) Julian of Norwich, A Book of Showings, excerpts in The Norton Anthology of English Literature, vol. 1, pp. 292-98

(3) A. C. Spearing, “Introduction,” Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love: Short Text and Long Text, transl. by Elizabeth Spearing. Penguin Books, 1998 (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 289.925 and 260.467)

(4) Rosamund S. Allen, “Introduction,” Richard Rolle, The English Writings, transl., ed. and introd. by Rosamund S. Allen. New York: Paulist Press, 1988

17 Nov - The visions of Margery Kempe

Readings: (1) The Book of Margery Kempe Book I, Chapters 1-11, 28-30 in the Penguin Classics edition translated by Barry Windeatt (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 289.923)

(2) “Chapter 5: Margery Kempe” in Diane Watt, Medieval Women’s Writing. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007, pp. 116-35.

(3) Lynn Staley, “Introduction,” The Book of Margery Kempe, ed. by Lynn Staley. Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications, 1996 (also in Faculty Library under shelf-mark: 262.135 and 262.135:1)

http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/staley-book-of-margery-kempe-introduction

24 Nov – Middle English dreams and dream visions 1

Readings: (1) Sir Orfeoin An Anthology of Medieval English Literature. Ed. by Halácsy Katalin, pp. 143-8.

(2) “Interpreting a Medieval Romance” in A. C. Spearing, Readings in Medieval Poetry. Cambridge: CUP, 1987, pp. 56-82. (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 315.807)

1 Dec – ME dream visions 2

Readings: (1) Chaucer, The House of Fame in Geoffrey Chaucer, Love Visions: The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Parliament of Birds, The Legend of Good Women. Transl. by Brian Stone. Penguin Books, pp. 61-121. (Faculty Library Shelf-mark: 325.688)

(2) Michael St. John, “The House of Fame,” in Chaucer’s Dream Visions: Courtliness and Individual Identity. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000 (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 267.547)

8 Dec – Visions of salvation

Readings: (1) Pearlin Medieval English Verse. Transl. by Brian Stone. Penguin Classics, pp. 136-74. (Faculty Library shelf-mark: 258.350)

(2) Nicholas Watson, “Visions of Inclusion: Universal Salvation and Vernacular Theology in Pre-Reformation England,”Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 27(1997): 145-88

Enjoy the course!

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