Fall 2011

Professor Michael Hanly

Department of English, Avery 471

Last updated Wednesday August 17, 1378


COURSE DESCRIPTION

Course Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:35-11:50, Aug 22--Dec 16, in Todd 302


The aim of this course will be to read a variety of texts from the English Middle Ages and Renaissance with a view to assessing their role in the development of Western literary art. We'll consider various critical perspectives in examining a number of genres and modes, including Anglo-Saxon alliterative poetry, the medieval romance, lyric, political commentary, and the drama.



INTERNET RESOURCES

1. Medieval Authors and Texts

  • OLD ENGLISH/ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE

    Hanly's Anglo-Saxon Homepage should point you in the right direction.

    Norton Anthology Audio Archive: some sound recordings of various passages in Anglo-Saxon lit., read by real experts.


  • MEDIEVAL WOMEN

    Medieval Feminist Index
    A searchable online database dealing with all aspects of medieval feminist scholarship.


  • CAPELLANUS, De amore

    The Andreas Capellanus Link Page

  • CHAUCER Nota bene: You will notice that we will not be reading any of Chaucer's poems in this course. Chaucer is the subject of another entire course (English 483), so I find it best to leave him out of 370 so we can focus on other worthy texts. Nevertheless, I have retained these research aids, since we can quite often come to an understanding about less-famous medieval authors by working through material on the more celebrated ones like Chaucer.

    Studies in the Age of Chaucer Bibliography
    A colossal endeavor by Prof. Mark Allen of UTSA; this is one of the most useful tools available for the study of Chaucer, a searchable, annotated bibliography of every book and article written about Chaucer for the last several years. It will eventually go back about 25 years. The annotations are excellent and will give you a good idea whether or not you need to look at the work.

    This bibliography is now available on a website, "fully searchable and web-friendly" indeed.

    Chaucer Review: Annotated & Indexed Biblio
    "Annotated and Indexed Bibliography of the first 30 years of The Chaucer Review. From "Abraham" to "Zitter," scholars have published nearly 800 articles in the first 30 volumes of the premier Chaucer journal, and they are all listed and summarized here. The subject index is searchable using the Find function of your browser, and you can use the article numbers there to find the essays you want in the bibliography. For example, if you go to the index and search for "anti-Semitism," you will find eight entries, numbered 19, 139, 268, 279, 324, 377, 747, 798. In the bibliography, search for 268, and you will find Frank, Hardy Long, "Seeing the Prioress Whole." 25 (1991): 229-37 with a summary of his argument. The bibliography is a large file and takes a while to load, but it is a great resource." (thanks to Alan Baragona for this description).

    The Essential Chaucer (1900-1984)
    The site describes itself in this fashion: "The Essential Chaucer is a selective, annotated bibliography of Chaucer studies from 1900-1984. It was first published in 1987 by G. K. Hall and Mansell Publishers Limited. The bibliography is divided into almost 90 topics, including themes, techniques, and individual works by Chaucer."

    The Chaucer MetaPage
    The central site for anything to do with Chaucer. Prof. Hanly is a participant in the MetaPage project.

     

  • SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

    Dr. Deborah Schwartz's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Resources page
    An excellent resource; see also her "Backgrounds to Courtly Love" site

    The Cotton Nero A X Project
    Have a look: a fascinating project directed by the brilliant Murray McGillivray regarding the Gawain manuscript at the British Library (Cotton Nero A.x). They have so far only transcribed Pearl, but will complete the whole manuscript--in their words, "The goals of the project are first of all to make available high-quality digital photographs of the entire manuscript; second to transcribe the entire manuscript at the highest possible level of accuracy and detail; and finally to produce editions of each of the individual poems in which the digital facsimiles and the new transcriptions serve as a basis for a hypertextually-linked standard reading text with glossary, full textual and explanatory notes, and other multimedia supports for readers." Fantastic.

    Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Bibliography
    Compiled by Prof. Jonathan A. Glenn--needs updating, but a good place to start.

    The Sir Philip Sidney World Bibliography
    This is the largest collection of bibliographic references on Sidney in existence. It includes all the items originally published in Sir Philip Sidney: An Annotated Bibliography of Texts and Criticism, 1554-1984 (New York: G.K. Hall, Macmillan 1994) as well updates from 1985 to the present.

    The Edmund Spenser World Bibliography
    allows users electronic access to the bibliographies, abstracts, and reviews printed in Spenser Newsletter and its successor, The Spenser Review.

    The Edmund Spenser Home Page
    A comprehensive site from Cambridge University, including a biography, several good bibliographies, online texts, and useful links.

  • MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRICS

    A brief encyclopedia article on Middle English Lyrics
    (from The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes [1907-21], vol. 1, "From the Beginnings to the Cycles of Romance.")

     

  • GENERAL

    The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
    A very full collection of links regarding medieval culture.

    The Medieval Review
    A collection of electronic reviews of books that can be both browsed and searched, covering the entire realm of medieval studies. Very useful.


    COURSE MATERIALS


    1. Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso), excerpts from Amores (The Loves)and Ars amatoria (The Art of Love).

  • The Perseus Project at Tufts University provides online versions of the Latin text of these poems; a free site presents a suitable English translation of The Loves alongside the Latin original. Finally, check out this astonishing German-language website on Ovid. It has many of the Heroides and other Ovidian texts in German translation.

    2. St. Augustine, De doctrina Christiana, selections from Book I

  • An essential text on Christian love; introduction to the concepts of "use" (uti) and "enjoyment" (frui). The Latin text of these excerpts is also provided.


    • 3. Links Related to Chaucer and Medieval Studies

  • my list of web resources relevant to a variety of medieval fields and topics.


    4. Medieval Themes and Topics

  • a list of useful definitions.


    OTHER LINKS

    Michael Hanly's Home Page (includes links to other course websites, etc.)