Male / Female: A Variety of Forms in French Medieval Literature 3304-1DZXW-KL-15
The classes will be devoted to the analysis of medieval literary texts containing various patterns of femininity and masculinity. We will pay special attention to texts that do not meet the expectations of the modern reader regarding medieval representations in this respect. So we will meet types of strong women and weak men, bad mothers portrayed as the embodiment of holiness, devoted fathers. We will also look at the various forms of transcending bipolar division through disguise or gender reassignment. We will consider what significance such threads could have had for a medieval recipient and we will confront them with contemporary interpretations in the spirit of gender studies. In more traditional performances, we will try to deconstruct the patriarchal point of view behind them through feminist reading.
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Student after completing the classes:
- has systematic knowledge of the processes taking place in the field of French early literature,
- has in-depth knowledge of the methodology of research into old literature,
- knows how to independently analyze and interpret a literary text,
- knows how to express themselves in an organized way on topics related to class issues,
- knows how to use various sources and methods, including modern information technologies, to search, analyze, evaluate, select and use information necessary to participate in classes.
Assessment criteria
- Activity during classes
- Essay
- Oral test
Bibliography
Georges Dyby, Dames du XIIᵉ siècle, Paris, Gallimard, t. III, 1996
Didier Lett, Hommes et femmes au Moyen Age, Paris, Armand Colin, 2013
Féminité et masculinité altérées: transgression et inversion des genres au Moyen Âge, éd. Eva Pibiri et Fanny Abbott, Micrologus Labrary, 2017
Le conte de Floire et Blancheflor, trad. en français moderne Jean-Luc Leclanche, Champion, Paris 1986.
De la différence des sexes. Le genre en histoire, dir. Michèle Riot-Sarcey, Paris, Larousse, 2010
Robert de Blois, Floris et Lyriopé, trad. M.NO. Toury, dans: Récits d'amour et de chevalerie, Paris, Robert Laffont, 200, p. 371-390.
Heldris de Cornouailles, Le Roman de Silence, trad. Florence Boucher, ibid., p. 467-557
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: