Kathryn Lynch
Dept. of English
Founders 111, x2575
klynch@wellesley.edu
Office Hours: Monday 4-5
Tuesday 10-12
In The Tempest, Shakespeare's Prospero says of the monster Caliban, "This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine." In this course, we will explore the complex interplay between the normal and the marginalized, between the hero and the monster, the villain, or the wife (Old English for "woman") whose gendered "lack" betrays what is at stake in constructions of unmarked masculinity. All these "things of darkness" are as central to the human experience as the romance hero himself whose "adventure" or defining journey sends him over what Tolkien calls in The Hobbit "the Edge of the Wild." What does he find there? How do his experiences change him? What role do women play in the hero's quest for a new identity? How are religious and cultural Others defined and incorporated? Is there any tolerance in such tales for the truly different and alien? What kinds of similarities does the hero recognize between himself and the monsters he meets? Does humor or whimsy have any place in a monstrous narrative? These are the kinds of questions we will be asking over the course of the semester as we read, first, medieval epics and romances, and then at the end of term two modern stories that have their origins in medieval traditions. To help us identify key issues and topics, we will also be looking at a variety of critical sources. Sometimes these will feel more alien than the primary texts, but it will be important to keep up with both kinds of reading -- primary and secondary.
The course will include a short paper (2-pages; due Monday, Feb. 26) , a midterm exam (Wednesday, March 14), a second paper (5-10 pages; due Tuesday, April 17), and a final exam (regularly self-scheduled). There will also be opportunities to present on a "crux" or central topic in a brief oral report followed up by a short written paper (about 3 pages) while we are working on Beowulf, The Song of Roland, The Hobbit, and Grendel. Students who make such presentations (and write such papers) will be exempted, if they so choose, from taking the midterm (for the first two works) or the final (for the last two). We will need to set these up early, and students who have not yet had the opportunity to present will be given priority over those who have. In addition, each report will be asked to adhere to a time limit. Students who select this option are asked to work in pairs or to coordinate with any other student(s) assigned for the same day in order to avoid repetition of topics. The student who presents an oral report and also elects to take the exams will not receive "extra credit"; she will, however, have more opportunities to be evaluated, meaning that somewhat less importance will rest with each separate assignment. In figuring the final grade, I will assign approximately equal importance to each assignment, reserving 10% of the grade for class participation (which includes attendance and punctuality, no small matters at 8:30, as well as participation in class discussions). Separate handouts will be distributed explaining the oral presentations and the paper.
Our course has an electronic conference (ME/R246-S07), where I will post the syllabus and assignments ("course-materials"), changes in our schedule if & when they occur ("Announcements"), and other matters of logistical or intellectual interest; it also includes a subconference to promote and extend class discussion ("discussion"), and an "e-reserves" conference where you can find the required secondary reading. Please print out all of the required readings so that you can have them in front of you during class discussion. The "Suggestion-Box" subconference can only be read by me and is for any somewhat confidential comments you have about the course, or criticisms, suggestions.
Beowulf, ed. & trans. Howell D. Chickering (Anchor)
John Gardner, Grendel (Vintage)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, Pearl: Verse Translations, ed. & trans. Marie Borroff (W. W. Norton)
The Song of Roland, ed. & trans. Glyn Burgess (Penguin)
Marie de France, The Lais of Marie de France, trans. Glyn Burgess & Keith Busby (Penguin)
J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again (Houghton Mifflin edition is preferred)
J. R. R. Tolkien The Tolkien Reader (Ballantine, Del Rey reissue)
Tuesday, January 30 -- Introductory (opening lines of Beowulf); description of the course structure
Wednesday, January 31 -- Beowulf, lines 1-606
Tuesday, Feb. 6 -- Beowulf, lines 607-1062
Wednesday, Feb. 7 -- Beowulf, lines 1063-1798
Tuesday, Feb. 13 -- – Beowulf, lines 1799-2199
Wednesday, Feb. 14 -- Jane Chance (Nitzsche), "The Structural Unity of Beowulf: The Problem of Grendel's Mother" (e-reserves)
Friday, Feb. 16 -- Beowulf, lines 2200-2668
Wednesday, Feb. 21 -- J. R. R. Tolkien, "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" (e-reserves; not the appendix)
Friday, Feb. 23 -- Beowulf, lines 2669-3182
Monday, Feb. 26 – First (short) paper due (by 5 in my mailbox)
Tuesday, Feb. 27– Clare Lees, excerpt from "Men and Beowulf," in Medieval Masculinites (e-reserves)
Wednesday, Feb. 28 -- Song of Roland, lines 1-1048; Michael Uebel, "Unthinking the Monster: Twelfth-Century Responses to Saracen Alterity" (e-reserves)
Tuesday, March 6 -- Song of Roland, lines 1049-2396
Wednesday, March 7 – No new reading assignment; optional student reports, continued discussion of ongoing reading
Tuesday, March 13 – Song of Roland, lines 2397-4002
Wednesday, March 14 -- Midterm examination (in-class essay test)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spring Vacation~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuesday, March 27 -- Marie de France, "Lanval"; Victor Turner, "Liminality and Communitas" (e-reserves)
Friday, March 30 – Marie de France, "Lanval"
Tuesday, April 3 -- Marie de France, "Bisclavret"; Matilda Bruckner, "Of Men and Beasts in Bisclavret" (e-reserves)
Wednesday, April 4 – No new reading assignment; continued discussion of ongoing reading, paper assignment, intro to Chaucer, Wife of Bath
Friday, April 6 -- Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Wife of Bath's Tale" (in The Riverside Chaucer & other editions in Middle English; also available in a reader friendly modern version made by Michael Murphy, at http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore/murphy/canterbury/ -- you only need to copy or print pp. 36-51; we are doing the Tale, not the Prologue)
Tuesday, April 10 -- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part I; Jeffrey Cohen, "The Body In Pieces," (e-reserves)
Wednesday, April 11 -- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Part II
Friday, April 13 -- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the entire poem; Jeffrey Cohen, "Exorbitance" (e-reserves)
Tuesday, April 17 –Monday schedule (no class), papers due
Wednesday, April 18 -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, chs. 1-5
Friday, April 20 – The Hobbit, chs 6-9
Tuesday, April 24 -- J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, chs. 10-19 (end)
Wednesday, April 25 – Further discussion if needed, oral presentations
Friday, April 27 -- Tolkien, "On Fairy-Stories," in The Tolkien Reader, pp. 33-90 (you do not need to read Notes or the story "leaf by Niggle")
Tuesday, May 1 – John Gardner, Grendel, pp. 1-74
Friday, May 4 -- John Gardner, Grendel, page 75 to the end
Tuesday, May 8 – No new reading assignment; optional student reports, continued discussion of ongoing reading
Wednesday, May 9 -- John Gardner, Grendel, finishing up