Medieval Women Writers
Dr. Nicole SmithENGL 3924/WMST 3720
Email: ang 311
Office:Language 408FM/W 1:30-2:50pm
Office phone:940-369-8949
Office hours:Wed12-1pm and by appointment
This course provides a general introduction to medieval European literature (from the twelfth to fifteenth centuries) from the perspective of women writers from a variety of cultures, social backgrounds, and historical time periods.We will examine the evolution of a new literary tradition by and for women from its emergence in the medieval West while addressing wider historical and cultural movements: the growth of religious communities, the shift from orality to literacy, the culture of chivalry and courtly love, the emergence of scholasticism and universities, changes in devotional practices, the persecution of heretics, the rise of nationalism and class consciousness.Our work will combine close reading with a focus on intertextuality so as to examine a feminized literary tradition.
Format is Mediterranean table-theater: coming to class means being prepared to think with and against the texts, with and against each other. Attendance is mandatory, under penalty of disinheritance.
Required texts:
Letters of Abelard and Heloise(Penguin)
Lais of Marie de France (Labyrinth)
Christine de Pizan, Book of the City of Ladies (Persea Press)
Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls (Paulist Press)
Nicholas Watson, ed., The Writings of Julian of Norwich: A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and a Revelation of Love (Penn State UP)
Margery Kempe, The Book of Margery Kempe (Norton)
Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women's Writing (CCMWW), eds. Carolyn Dinshaw and David Wallace
Sarah Beckwith, “A Very Material Mysticism,” available at Willis Library E-reserve;
password: medieval
Optional:
Translation: The Book of Margery Kempe. Trans. Barry Windeatt. London: Penguin, 2000. Amazon.com $9.89 ISBN-13: 978-0140432510.
THE SPECIFICS:
Discussion advocate (5%)
Attendance (10%)
Two exams (75%)
Quizzes: I administer pop quizzes on reading comprehension at the beginning of class. They may not be made up. I drop the lowest quiz grade before computing your quiz average.
DISCUSSION ADVOCATE and RESPONDENT: Each student is responsible for preparing one discussion question and responding to at least one posted by a colleague. The question should be thematic rather than plot-driven in nature. In other words, see if you can craft a question that deals with a writer’s position on love, education, spirituality, men, writing, etc. Please post the question to the course Blackboard site AT LEAST TWO DAYS prior to class. Respondents must post a response to a question at least 24 hours prior to the next class. Discussion advocates should refer to a particular place in the text to facilitate discussion of their inquiry. We will begin class with these questions and responses the day that the reading is due.
Attendance: The quality of class discussion depends on your presence. As such, attendance is a requirement and therefore linked to your grade. Absences are not excused. For that reason, I allow one absence without penalty. The attendance policy is firm: zero or one missed classes earn 10 full points; two absences earn 8 points; three absences, 6 points. Four absences, 3 points. Upon your fifth absence, you risk failing the class. Perfect attendance (which means just that) is rewarded with 3 bonus points on your attendance grade.
Exams: As students of English literature, you will be held accountable for factual information that you will learn in this course. These exams will be a combination of short answer questions (including dates, genres, poetic forms, etc.), identifications (provide the author, name of the text, and a brief description of the passage’s significance), and a close reading during which you will use tools of literary analysis you developed in the close-reading exercise to provide an explicit interpretation of a given text.
Plagiarism: The UNT Undergraduate Catalogue notes that “the term ‘plagiarism’ includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgement. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.” Plagiarized work results in an immediate “F” for the course.
Students with disabilities: In accordance with the terms and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504, Rehabilitation Act, the instructor will cooperate with the Office of Disability Accommodation to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. If you have a disability for which you will require accommodation, you must advise me of your needs in writing no later than the end of the second week of class.
CALENDAR
Wed1/18Introduction to the class
Contexts: Damsels in Distress, Daughters of Eve
Mon1/23Letters of Abelard and Heloise: The Personal Letters;
Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women’s Writing (CCMWW, hereafter), “Virginities,” pp. 21-39; “Heloise,” pp.161-72
Wed1/25Letters of Abelard and Heloise: The Letters of Direction;Appendix, pp. 237-44
CCMWW, “Women and Authorship”
Mon1/30Marie de France, Lais: Prologue, Guigemar, Equitan, Fresne
CCMWW, “Marie de France,” pp. 172-83
Wed2/1Marie de France, Lais: Bisclavret, Lanval, Les Deux Amanz, Yonec, Laüstic
Mon2/6Marie de France, Lais: Milun, Chaitivel, Chevrefoil, Eliduc
Wed2/8Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls, Ch. 1-40;
CCMWW, “Continental Women Mystics,” pp. 240-55
Mon2/13 Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls, Ch. 40-97
Wed2/15 Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls, Ch. 98-139
Mon2/20 Marguerite Porete, The Mirror of Simple Souls, Ch. 98-140
Wed2/22Review for Exam I
Mon 2/27Exam I
Wed2/29 Paleography lesson in Willis Library
Willis Reserve (for ENGL 4410)
Christopher de Hamel, Scribes and Illuminators
Mon3/5The Writings of Julian of Norwich: Introduction, pp. 1-60;
CCMWW, “Enclosure,” pp. 109-23; “Julian of Norwich,” pp. 210-21
Wed3/7The Writings of Julian of Norwich: A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman
Mon3/12The Writings of Julian of Norwich: Revelation of Love
Wed3/14The Writings of Julian of Norwich: Revelation of Love
Mon3/19SPRING BREAK
Wed3/21SPRING BREAK
Mon3/26The Book of Margery Kempe
CCMWW, “Marriage,” pp. 40-57; “Margery Kempe,” pp. 222-39
Wed3/28The Book of Margery Kempe
“Constitutions of Arundel,” pp. 187-196 in Norton
Mon4/2The Book of Margery Kempe
E-reserve: Sarah Beckwith, “A Very Material Mysticism”
Wed4/4The Book of Margery Kempe
Mon4/9Romance of the Rose debate (available on Blackboard);
Christine de Pizan, “The God of Love’s Letter”
CCMWW, “The Roman de la Rose, Christine de Pizan, and the querelle des
femmes,” pp. 84-94
Wed4/11Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies: Part One (pp. 3-97), esp.
sections I.1-10, 14-19, 27-28, 33-34, 37-38, 43, 44, 48
Mon4/16Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies: Part Two (pp. 99-215), esp.
sections II.1, 7, 12-14, 22, 25, 30-31, 36-37, 47, 50, 53-55, 62, 64, 66, 68-69
Wed4/18Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies: Part Three (pp. 217-57), esp.
sections III.1-5, 10, 18-19
Mon4/23Review for Exam II
Wed 4/25EXAM II
Mon4/30Early British Literature Colloquium
Professor Sarah Beckwith, Duke University
3:30-4:30pm in ENV 110
Wed5/2Final Business