EN4312 Authorising English: Society, Gender and Religion in Late Medieval English Literature

Academic year

2023 to 2024 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Not automatically available to General Degree students

Planned timetable

Tuesdays 12-2pm

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr C E Flynn

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr C Flynn

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

The module examines the literature composed in England during the later Middle Ages with an emphasis on the years around 1400 - a period in which ideas of 'English literature' and the 'English language' can be seen under construction. The module offers an introduction to the genres of Middle English literature (particularly lyric poetry, romance and mystical writing). And it examines the interrelationship between textual practice and the cultural processes that generated imaginative writing. Special attention will be paid to the preoccupation of authors with a world which they saw as moving towards moral, political and religious complexity and uncertainty. Also to be explored will be the implication in turbulent ideological debate of the use of English in texts many of which are written for laypeople and women (Group A)

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS EN2003 AND PASS EN2004

Assessment pattern

2-hour Written Examination = 50%, Coursework = 50%

Re-assessment

exam = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 x 2-hour seminar, and 2 optional consultative hours.

Scheduled learning hours

44

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

256

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate an understanding of what is probably a relatively unfamiliar period in English cultural and literary history
  • Understand characteristic features of text production in a manuscript culture
  • Read and pronounce Middle English
  • Examine characteristic literary styles, genres and discourses of the period
  • Develop skills in assessing the relationship between writing and society, text and context - skills that are of relevance (theoretical and applied) outside the field of medieval studies
  • Develop oral and written presentational skills and the ability to offer disciplined close readings of documents (literary and non-literary) relating to medieval textual production