English literature of the Older Period: The Canterbury Tales [ LGERM2824 ]

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Particular attention will be paid to Chaucer's sense of humour, to his transformation of medieval literary genres in England and on the continent, and to his ideas that already pave the way for the Renaissance.

At the end of the course,  the students

- should be able to analyse Chaucer's texts, as well as others related to The Canterbury Tales, on a scholarly basis;
- will have increased their 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.

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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 21st century context of one of the tales (The Man of Law's Tale).

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