This course is aimed at first-year students. It is designed to introduce them to the Middle English language, essential for them to read medieval English texts during the rest of their studies. Grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation will be studied, and the students’ language skills will be developed through the careful reading of the Canterbury Tales.
The course’s second aim is for students to use their knowledge of Middle English to acquire a deeper understanding of Chaucer’s text. Close-reading and in-class discussions will develop the students’ analytical skills and enable them to explore the Canterbury Tales. At times courtly and solemn, at others irreverent, fun, or even obscene, the Tales’ diversity offers students a look at various genres of medieval literature, various themes (such as fate, love, revenge, or the role of women), and at the varied society of fourteenth-century England. It also addresses more general themes—storytelling, for instance, and the role of the author.
- Dozent/in: Aurélie Blanc