The History of English Literature I

Teacher(s)

Bertrand Ingrid (compensates Latre Guido); Latre Guido;

Language

English

Prerequisites

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The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Main themes

This course offers a chronological and critical survey of the literature of the given language area from the Middle Ages to the 17th and 18th centuries. It examines the different movements and genres developed during these periods and places them in their socio-cultural contexts. Excerpts (compulsory reading) are used as illustrations.

Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of the course, students should be able to show insight into the distinctive features of major literary movements and genres. They should be able to situate them in their socio-cultural and historical contexts. Students will become familiar with important literary figures and canonical works of the historical period that is studied. They will be expected to know how to read and interpret some key texts.

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”.

Content

Lectures making ample use of audiovisual material help the students acquire insight into English literary texts and tendencies of the Older Period. The course traces the development of English literature from 600 to 1800 in the context of major historical developments in Britain, Ireland, and the Continent. Through a combination of "sampling" and "digging," the course offers both a panoramic view and, in the discussion of short extracts, more in-depth analysis of the major authors of this period: the Anglo-Saxon poets, the Gawain-poet, Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Swift, Pope and the early Romantics.

Teaching methods

Teaching method: formal lectures.

Evaluation methods

Written exam.

 

Other information

Audio-visual materials will be used to illustrate the course.

Bibliography

Support : lecture de base, syllabus, manuel (The Norton Anthology of English Literature 1).

Faculty or entity

LMOD