In-depth study of Shakespeare's drama [ LGERM2722 ]

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- Post-renaissance literatures in English.

- Multilingualism and translation.

- Textual representations of linguistic and cultural otherness.

Students having completed all course requirements

- will have an advanced understanding of the multiple connections between language, dialect, nation and other social structures, as well as of the ways in which such links are represented in a range of English literary texts (including their translations or film adaptations) ;
- will master the terminology and the concepts - borrowed mainly from narratology, translation studies, sociolinguistics and postcolonial studies - needed for a critical discussion of the above-mentioned phenomena ;
- will have deepened their analytical skills as well as their understanding of the history of the various Anglophone literatures in a world that is increasingly characterised by mobility, globalisation and interculturality counterbalancing the forces of nationalist ideologies ;
- will also have honed their linguistic skills.

Students must be able to formulate their analyses in adequate English, showing a degree of proficiency that is worthy of a Master's degree.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Written exam, including extracts for discussion that have not been dealt with explicitly in the classroom.

Formal lectures, making use of slides and extracts from DVDs.

This course approaches Shakespeare mainly from a historical and philological perspective. Was Shakespeare a creator and defender of the Tudor myth and its establishment of a strong central authority and social stability? Or did he sympathize with the rebel? How does he use and transform medieval and renaissance stage traditions, and create his own? What has been the response to his drama since his death in 1616?

The students attending this course will be offered a chance to attend the last two days of the Tyndale Conference in Oxford (1-4 October 2015). Those who seize this opportunity will be expected to read two Shakespeare plays instead of four.

•  King Lear in the Norton Anthology.
•  Hamlet, Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream in The Oxford World's Classics editions. Students attending the Tyndale conference won't have to read the latter two plays.

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