East is East? Cross-Cultural Encounters in Medieval French Literature (MLF2069)

Staff	Dr Thomas Hinton - Convenor
Credit Value	15
ECTS Value	7.5
NQF Level	5
Pre-requisites	MLF1001 or MLF1052 or equivalent
Co-requisites	None
Duration of Module	Term 1: 11 weeks;

Module aims

This module aims to introduce you to a varied selection of medieval texts. They will learn to read these critically by developing close reading skills and a knowledge of the medieval cultural context.

You will also learn about influential theoretical approaches to issues of race, identity, culture and gender; we will analyse their value for the analysis of premodern societies through consideration of recent work on cultural contact and difference undertaken in medieval studies.

The module will challenge you to consider the legacy and persistence of medieval cultural models in the present day, and thus prepare for a lifelong critical engagement with the modern world.

ILO: Module-specific skills

1. Demonstrate a sound understanding of the set texts, including reference to their place in the historical, literary and cultural context of their time
2. Demonstrate competence in reading and analysing medieval French (supported by modern French translations)
3. Demonstrate sensitivity to the cultural and historical particularities of medieval culture and, if appropriate, identify points of comparison between medieval and modern accounts of cultural difference

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

4. With some guidance from the module tutor, evaluate and apply a range of critical approaches to medieval literature and culture
5. Present a detailed argument in the appropriate register of English, mustering a range of textual evidence in its support
6. Use a reading list to identify material relevant to a given aspect of the subject

ILO: Personal and key skills

7. Undertake defined learning activities with a measure of autonomy, asking for guidance where necessary
8. Adopt a critical approach to the selection and organisation of material in order to produce, to a deadline, a cogent written or oral argument
9. Using course material provided, research, plan and write an essay on a chosen aspect of the subject, to a specified length and deadline

Syllabus plan

This module looks at representations of the ‘East’ in four very different medieval French texts: a religious play in which a statue of a saint converts an Islamic king to Christianity; an epic which sees Charlemagne travel to Constantinople to measure himself against the Greek emperor; a romance in which Alexander travels to the edge of the world; and a charmingly transgressive love story between a young French nobleman and an enterprising Saracen slave. We will explore how these texts – full of monsters, miracles and food fights – work to project an image of the ‘foreign’, and the uses to which such constructions are put.

Close study of the four primary texts will be supported by lectures that consider broader issues such as medieval accounts of the world’s geography and history; the ideology and realities of crusade; and the significance of domestic items such as silk and spices, markers of luxury which tell a story of trade contacts and the interpenetration of customs and goods. Recent influential approaches to race and culture have demonstrated the role of colonialism in shaping the development of modern civilisations; in doing so, they have tended to ignore the Middle Ages, or at best to treat this period as a kind of pre-history to colonialism. Yet medieval literature reflects a world in which the cultural, national and linguistic boundaries we now take for granted were far more fluid than they are today, and for this very reason it invites us to move beyond received ideas and stereotypes in our dealings with modern life.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
16	134	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled learning and teaching	5	5 x 1-hour lectures
Scheduled learning and teaching	10	10 x 1-hour seminars
Scheduled learning and teaching	1	Tutorial
Guided independent study	134	Private study

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Written task	500 words	1-9	Written and oral feedback

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	100	2500 words	1-9	Written and oral feedback

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay (2500 words)	Essay (2500 words)	1-9	Referral/Deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Please try to get these specific editions of the texts – all include facing-page translation into either Modern French or English:

Jean Bodel, Le Jeu de Saint Nicolas, ed. Jean Dufournet (Garnier-Flammarion)
Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne, ed. Glyn S. Burgess (British Rencesvals Publications)
Thomas de Kent, Le Roman d’Alexandre ou le Roman de Toute Chevalerie, ed. Catherine Gaullier-Bougassas and Laurence Harf-Lancner (Champion Classiques)
Aucassin et Nicolette, ed. Jean Dufournet (Garnier-Flammarion) These four texts should be acquired in advance.

Module has an active ELE page?

Yes

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=4186

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Selected secondary reading:

Burns, E. Jane, Sea Of Silk: A Textile Geography Of Women's Work (Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2009)
Conklin Akbari, Suzanne, Idols In The East. European Representations of Islam And The Orient, 1100-1450 (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2009)
Kinoshita, Sharon, Medieval Boundaries: Rethinking Difference In Old French Literature (Philadelphia: University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2006)
Said, Edward, Orientalism (London: Routledge, 1978 – many reprints)

Available as distance learning?

Origin date

14/10/2016

Last revision date

05/02/2019

Key words search

Medieval, Middle Ages, Postcolonial, French, Modern Languages