Animal Fable 3301-LB2054-2ST
In the initial part of the course the student is introduced to the Middle English tradition of the animal fable, including the European heritage of the Reynard the Fox cycles, Marie De France’s Fables and the work of G. Chaucer. The aim is to trace the development of the European medieval tradition of the animal fable against the context of the legacy of the classical antiquity and the early medieval period, especially the work of Aesop, Aphthonius of Antioch, or Avianus.
A central aim of the course at this stage is to place the literary tradition of the fable is the intellectual, philosophical, theological context of the epoch and consequently attention is devoted to the development and variants of the concept of anima sensitiva as the defining characteristic of animal identity. Special attention is devoted to the position of the animal in the Aristotelian/Thomistic hylomorphic system based on a network of the sensitive soul’s potencies and habitus.
Subsequently, the course concentrates on the early modern and modern heritage of the animal fable and the appropriation of the genre for the purposes of moral and political allegory and social didacticism (against the wide European context of pertinent Renaissance and Enlightenment authors such as Jean de La Fontaine, Ignacy Krasicki, or Ivan Krylov).
The course culminates in an extensive overview of contemporary animal fable tradition, exploring its relationship to other genres of speculative fiction, such as fantasy, and science fiction, as well as political and social allegory and the psychological novel. Also the course acquaints the student with elements of contemporary ideological perspectives relevant to the context of the genre within ecocriticism, animal studies, anthrozoology, or cognitive ethology. In this section of the course classic contemporary texts of Kenneth Grahame, George Orwell, or Brian Jaques are examined. Discussion is also focused on the presence of the intertextual tradition as well as formal characteristics and aesthetics of the animal fable in the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, T. Pratchett, George R. R. Martin, S. Clarke, as well as in contemporary poetry (T. Hughes, Dylan Thomas) or music (Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull).
The reading list:
I. Geoffrey Chaucer - Nun’s Priest’s Tale
II. Robert Henryson – from The Morall Fabillis: The Twa Mice; The Preiching of the Swallow
III. Edmund Spenser - Muiopotmos, Or The Fate Of The Butterflie
IV. John Dryden - The Hind and the Panther
V. John Gay - from Fables: The Lyon, the Tyger, and the Traveller; The Rat-catcher and Cats
VI. Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows
VII. C.S. Lewis – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
VIII. George Orwell - Animal Farm
IX. Richard Adams Watership Down
X. Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingstone Seagull
XI. Pink Floyd – Animals
XII. Brian Jaques - Redwall (I)
XIII. Terry Pratchett - The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
XIV. George R. R. Martin – The Ice Dragon
XV. Susanna Clarke - The Wood at Midwinter
Type of course
Mode
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
Students will be able to:
K_W01- Identify and characterize on an advanced level the place and status of speculative fiction, and specifically the genre of animal fable, within literary studies
K_W02- Describe on an advanced level the current trends in literary studies research concerning speculative fiction, especially the genre of the animal fable
K_W04- Characterize on an advanced level the principles of research design in literary studies with special focus on the application of methods and tools in formulating research problems within the studies of speculative fiction, especially the genre of animal fable
K_W05- Identify the notions and principles pertinent to intellectual property and copyright
Abilities
Students will be able to:
K_U01- Apply advanced terminology and notions pertinent to the discipline of literary studies, specifically the genre of the animal fable
K_U02-Apply advanced research methodology within literary and English studies, respecting ethical norms and copyright law
K_U03-Apply knowledge obtained during the course of studies to account for and solve a problem, thereby completing a research task related to the discipline literary studies
K_U04- Analyze literary phenomena and draw generalizations on their basis in the context of societal, historical and economic factors on an advanced level
K_U05- Discern alternative methodological paradigms within a discipline
K_U06- Find information in various sources and critically assess its usefulness for research related to the topic of the MA project
Social competences
Students will be ready to:
K_K02- Apply knowledge and skills obtained during the course of studies to undertake lifelong learning, as well as personal and professional development
K_K03- Take responsibility for performing one’s professional duties, with due respect for the work of others, obey and develop the ethical norms in professional and academic settings related to the disciplines included on the curriculum of English studies
K_K04- Assess critically one’s own knowledge and skills related to the studies
K_K06- Value cultural heritage and cultural diversity as well as individual opinions
Education at language level B2+.
Assessment criteria
- attendance
- participation in discussions
- presentations
- term presentation/paper
3 absences are allowed.
Bibliography
Boehrer, Bruce Thomas. Animal characters: nonhuman beings in early modern literature. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.
Burke, Carolyn L. & Copenhaver, Joby G.. “Animals as People in Children's Literature. Language Arts” , January 2004, Vol. 81, No. 3, Explorations of Genre (January 2004), pp. 205-213.
Clement, Grace. “Animals and Moral Agency: The Recent Debate and Its Implications.” Journal of Animal Ethics , Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring 2013), pp. 1-14.
Danta, Chris. “Animal fables after Darwin: literature, speciesism, and metaphor”. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Henderson, Arnold Clayton. “Medieval Beasts and Modern Cages: The Making of Meaning in Fables and Bestiaries”. PMLA , Jan., 1982, Vol. 97, No. 1 (Jan., 1982), pp. 40-49.
Ivanovic, Christine. “Talking Animals and Politics of World Literature”. Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 54, No. 4, Special Issue: Cross-Cultural Reading (2017), pp. 702-730.
Jeffers, Susan. Arda Inhabited. Environmental Relationships in The Lord of the Rings. The Kent State University Press, 2014.
Lenaghan, R. T.. “The Nun's Priest's Fable.” PMLA , Sep., 1963, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Sep., 1963), pp. 300-30.
Middelhoff, Frederike / Schönbeck, Sebastian / Borgards, Roland / Gersdorf, Catrin (eds.) “Texts, Animals, Environments. Zoopoetics and Ecopoetics”. 2019. Rombach Verlag KG, 2019.
Narkiss, Doron. “The Fox, the Cock, and the Priest: Chaucer's Escape from Fable”. The Chaucer Review , 1997, Vol. 32, No. 1 (1997), pp. 46-63.
Needler, Howard. “The Animal Fable among Other Medieval Literary Genres”. New Literary History , Spring, 1991, Vol. 22, No. 2, Probings: Art, Criticism, Genre (Spring, 1991), pp. 423-439.
Nelson, James A.. “Recent Studies in Animal Ethics”. American Philosophical Quarterly , Jan., 1985, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Jan., 1985), pp. 13-24.
Oerlemans, Onno. “The Animal in Allegory: From Chaucer to Gray. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment”, Spring 2013, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Spring 2013), pp. 296-317.
Shaw, Bruce. The animal fable in science fiction and fantasy. McFarland & Company, Inc., 2010.
Smith, M. Ellwood. The Fable and Kindred Forms. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology , Oct., 1915, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Oct., 1915), pp. 519-529.
Uther, Hans-Jörg. The Fox in World Literature: Reflections on a "Fictional Animal". Asian Folklore Studies , 2006, Vol. 65, No. 2 (2006), pp. 133-160.
Vindt, Lidiya/ Gelfand, Miriam / Parrott, Ray. The Fable as Literary Genre. Ulbandus Review , Fall 1987, Vol. 5 (Fall 1987), pp. 88-108.
Additional information
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