Medieval Narratives and the Modern World

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CLA 1200/Medieval Studies 1200

Medieval Studies 3610/History 3960

Medieval Narratives and the Modern World

Spring 2012

Tuesday/Thursday, 9:45-11:00

STSS 410

Professor Michelle Hamilton, , 612-625-6661

Professor Ruth Karras, , 612-625-8578

Course Description

Some of the greatest stories in world literature—Knights of the Round Table, dragon-slayers, djinn performing magic, pilgrims descending to Hell—date from the Middle Ages, but have been retold in various forms between then and now to serve a variety of purposes. They have formed the basis of national myths, provided excuses for defining some people as different, strengthened religious beliefs, idealized love, and provided excellent entertainment. In this class we will read medieval texts from Western Europe, the Arab world and Persia, and look at some of the ways these stories have been retold in the modern era in fiction (both adult and children’s), film, and the visual arts. We’ll discuss what the narratives meant to the societies that created them and how they have been interpreted differently in modern cultures. Students will do an in-class presentation based on research into a modern work of their choice and the way it uses medieval history and literature, and will create their own modern interpretation of a medieval text in their choice of medium and genre.

Student Learning Outcomes

This course will help you achieve the following outcomes:

• Locate and critically evaluate literary texts and other information. Students will analyze medieval texts from a variety of cultures. Students will do both a group and individual presentation on selected narratives. Students will also produce a collaborative paper based on analysis and research on the historical, social and cultural context of a medieval narrative. They will also develop their own original version of a medieval narrative as a final project. (See Requirements below).
• Understand diverse philosophies and cultures within and across societies (reading, class discussion, quizzes)
• Communicate effectively (class discussion, presentation, writing assignments)
• Understand the role of creativity, innovation, discovery, and expression across disciplines. This is the focus of the class: it looks at a variety of different types of medieval texts and takes both a historical and literary perspective on the way these stories have been retold, reconfigured and given new meaning in a variety of modern cultures (class discussion, second writing assignment)

Instructor office hours:

Professor Karras: 1222 Heller Hall, Tuesday, 1:30-3:00 and by appointment.

Professor Hamilton: 209 Folwell Hall, Thursday 11:30-1:00

Requirements:

Failure to complete any one of the course requirements will result in a failing grade regardless of the grade received on other components.

• Quizzes.In lieu of a midterm or final examination for this class, but there will be periodic brief quizzes on dates both announced and unannounced. These quizzes will assess whether you have done and understood the reading, and collectively account for 20% of your grade.
  Museum visit.The class will visit the exhibit, “Michael Mazur: The Inferno of Dante” at Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
  **Please Note: we will meet at the museum at 10:00 and stay there till 11:00. If you are unable to attend because you have another class before or after this one, you will need to see the exhibit some other time on your own before March 9. The quiz on March 9 will include it.

• Class participation is required. This includes both discussion and participation in ChimeIn. This requires you to bring to class a laptop, smartphone, or any phone capable of text messaging. When you use these phones the ringer must be set to silent! Your peer review of other students’ presentations and final projects will also count as part of your class participation grade. Class participation will account for 20 % of your grade.

• Group Presentation & Paper. In the first part of the semester students will be assigned to groups of 2-3 people, each of which will be required to make a class presentation of a modern work (text, film, art) that makes use of a medieval story or themes. You will need to do research to determine in what respects it is based on the original and in what respects the author has changed it. Group presentations will take place between Feb. 7 and April 3. Each person individually will also turn in a paper, either a summary (for 1xxx level) or a more extended research report (for 3xxx level), due one week after your class presentation. Presentations and papers will be graded on the level of their independent research on the topic, the complexity and specificity of their thesis, the quality of analysis, and the effectiveness of expression. Not all group members will necessarily receive the same grade: the instructors will take into account confidential evaluations from each student of what each contributed to the group. 1xxx level: presentation 20% of grade, summary 10%. 3xxx level: presentation 15% of grade, paper 15%.

• Final Project. Your final project will be the creation of your own modern version of a medieval story, either in writing or a visual medium. This will also be presented to the class between April 19 and May 3 and a final written version taking into account the class’s critiques will be due May 9. It will be graded on quality of expression, on creativity, and on knowledge of the texts on which it is based and the process of reinterpretation. It will account for 30% of your grade. We recommend you pick a medium with which you are familiar: we are unable to provide advice on filmmaking or video game design, for example, so it probably would not be a great idea to have this assignment be your first foray into one of those fields.

Reading:

The following books are available from the Bookstore:

• My Name is Red. Orhan Pamuk. Random House.
• 1001 Nights.Eds. Heller-Roazen/Mahdi/Haddawy. W.W. Norton.
• Inferno. Dante. Ed. Durling. Oxford
• Song of the Cid. Eds. Raffel/Menocal. Penguin.
• Volsunga Saga. Ed. Byock. Penguin
• Greek Alexander Romance. Ed. Stoneman; Penguin Group USA
• Eric and Enide. Chretien de Troyes. Ed. Comfort.
• Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court. Mark Twain. Bantam.
  

Other readings listed on the schedule below will be posted on the class Moodle page.

Policies:

All work is due by the beginning of class on the relevant date. Any item turned in late (including after class) will have the grade reduced by 1/3 of a letter grade for each 24 hours it is late. If you give written to a friend to turn in and the friend doesn’t do it, your paper is late. If you submit it electronically but it does not upload properly or the instructor is not able to open it, it is late.

Extensions and make-up quizzes will be given only in the case of documented illness or emergency. The length of any deadline extension is at the sole discretion of the instructor. Some examples of things that do not constitute emergencies include: car trouble, computer trouble, having to work, going to a family gathering. If you are concerned about one of these things happening, feel free to turn the work in early. An absence for illness will be excused only if one of the instructors has been notified before class. You may leave a voicemail or send an email at any time of the day or night. If you suddenly become too ill to pick up the phone or ask someone else to do so, a doctor’s note indicating an emergency situation will be required.

Behavior in class must not inconvenience or distract other students. This means: no eating foods that have a strong aroma or make loud crunchy noises; no texting or computer use other than what is required to participate in the class.

It is your responsibility to check the class Moodle site at least once a week (or set it to send you updates when new information is posted). Any changes we make to the syllabus and post on the Moodle site will be binding, so make sure you do not miss them.

This class observes all University of Minnesota and College of Liberal Arts policies, including but not limited to the following:

Equal Access: All persons shall have equal access to U of M programs, facilities and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

Sexual Harassment: University of Minnesota Board of Regents policy prohibits sexual harassment, including unwelcome advances, requests for sexual favors, and/or other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when submission to such conduct is explicitly or implicitly a condition of academic advancement, used as the basis of academic decisions, or has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive academic environment.

Disability Services: Any student with a documented disability condition (e.g., physical, learning, psychiatric, systemic, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations should contact the instructor and Disability Services at the beginning of the semester. It is the student’s responsibility to contact Disability Services to discuss individual needs for accommodations and for advising about contact with faculty, and to follow up with faculty. Disability Services 180 McNamara Center, (612) 626-1333, ,

Student Academic Integrity and Scholastic Dishonesty

Academic integrity is essential to a positive teaching and learning environment. All students enrolled in University courses are expected to complete coursework responsibilities with fairness and honesty. Failure to do so by seeking unfair advantage over others or misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own, can result in disciplinary action. The University Student Conduct Code defines scholastic dishonesty as “plagiarizing; cheating on assignments or examinations; engaging in unauthorized collaboration on academic work; taking, acquiring, or using test materials without faculty permission; submitting false or incomplete records of academic achievement; acting alone or in cooperation with another to falsify records or to obtain dishonestly grades, honors, awards, or professional endorsement; altering forging , or misusing a University academic record; or fabricating or falsifying data, research procedures, or data analysis.” It also includes inventing or falsifying research or other findings with the intent to deceive, submitting the same or substantially similar papers for more than one course without consent of all instructors concerned, depriving another of necessary course materials, and sabotaging another's work.

Plagiarism means presenting someone else's work as your own, intentionally or unintentionally. Copying text from any source, including the Web, without putting quotation marks around it and citing the source, or close paraphrasing without citing the source, is plagiarism. The minimum penalty in this class for any instance of plagiarism, intentional or unintentional, is a grade of “F” for the assignment. All academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, and may incur penalties up to and including a grade of “F” or “N” in the class. If you have questions about the expectations for a specific assignment, or are concerned about committing plagiarism unintentionally, please ask the instructors.

Schedule of Topics and Readings:

Jan 17Introductory

Jan 19The Greek Alexander Romance, pp. 1-86 (Intro. and Book 1)

Jan 24The Greek Alexander Romance, pp. 87-159 (Books 2 & 3)

Jan 26Excerpts from Spanish Libro de Alexandre & Arabic Al-Masudi (Moodle)

Jan 31Volsunga Saga, pp. 1-65 (Intro. and Saga to 18)

Feb 2Volsunga Saga, pp. 65-109 (19. Regin drinks Fafnir's blood-end)

Feb 7Thomas Mann, “The Blood of the Walsungs” (Moodle)

Group presentation

Feb 9J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, Chapter 12, “Inside Information” (Moodle)

Group presentation

Feb 14The 1001 Nights, pp. vii-xiv; 3-36 (Shahrazad and frame tale)

Group presentation

Feb 16 The 1001 Nights, pp. 303-349 (Voyages of Sinbad)

Group presentation

Feb 21 The 1001 Nights, excerpts with City of Brass adventure (Moodle)

Group presentation

Feb 23 The 1001 Nights, pp. 356-372

Edgar Allen Poe "The One Thousand and Second Tale of Shahrazad" (Moodle)

Feb 28 Dante, Inferno, pp. 1-183 (Intro. -Canto 11)

Mar 1Dante, Inferno, pp. 185-361 (Canto 12-24)

Mar 7Dante, Inferno, pp. 362-549 (Canto 24-34)

Museum visit

Mar 9No reading assignment

Mar 12-16 Spring Break

Mar 20No reading assignment

Mar 22Erec and Enide

Mar 27 Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court, pp. 1-159 (pp. from old Bantam ed.)

Mar 29Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur’s Court, pp. 160-274 (pp. from old Bantam ed.)

April 3 Song of the Cid, pp. ix-xxix; 1-77 (Intro.; Canto I)

April 5 Song of the Cid, pp.80-155 (Canto II)

April 10 Song of the Cid, pp.157-247 (Canto III)

April 12 Nizami, “Khosrow and Shirin” (Moodle)

April 17 Ferdowsi, The Shahnameh, pp. 441-528 and 714-723 (Moodle)

April 19 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp. ix-xxv; 11-81

Project presentations

April 24 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp. 81-183

Project presentations

April 26 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp.183-303

Project presentations

May 1 Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, pp.303-452

Project presentations

May 3 Read drafts of student work

Project presentations