English literature: in-depth study of a genre [ LGERM2824 ]

The lecturer has a choice between texts of the Older Period (from the Middle Ages to the 18th century) or more modern texts.

This course will be devoted to the study of one or more literary genres. At the end of the course, the students should be able to discuss the characteristics of these genres within a historical context. They should be able to see how and why specific scholarly methods have been applied to the texts. The course is also indirectly meant to increase the students' lexical skills. Their analyses will therefore have to reflect a command of the English language that corresponds to their level (Masters), as well as a good grasp of the various cultural concepts discussed in the course.

Written exam.

Chaucer explores the contrasts between our longing to achieve wholeness, possibly even holiness (“the holy blissful martyr for to seke”), and our comic failure to integrate into our thoughts and experience the simple urges of our bodies and the fragmented visions of our culture. These contrasts are revealed through a subtle manipulation of literary genres from both England and the European continent : chivalric romances, fabliaux, fables, exempla, antifeminist literature, etc. The course studies these genres on the basis of stories from the Canterbury Tales, and tries to define the sophisticated mechanisms of Chaucer’s humour.

Course materials: extracts from The Canterbury Tales; BBC-adaptation to a 21^st century context of one of the tales (The Man of Law’s Tale).