The Medieval Other: Monsters, Witches, and Those People Over There

Catalog description

Medieval literature often plays on the tension between the self and the other, creating an emotional or moral dichotomy between what it represents as “normal” versus that which it deems strange. The figure of the other is familiar to us in its multiple guises as the enemies or evil doers which still lurk in the shadowy pages of our own literature. This class will explore the deployment of the other in medieval literature and history, examining the impetus behind representing the different as dangerous. We will peek into the monster’s lair to see him seeking comfort from his mom, ask the villagers why the witch is outcast when she seems to be the only one providing medicine, and find out why everyone thinks the people across the ocean have one giant foot which doubles as an umbrella. Through our reading we will follow the tradition of representing non-privileged and outside groups (e.g., BIPOC, women, LGBTQIA, neurodivergent, and disabled peoples) as something beyond “normal” in medieval literature and decipher how this has impacted our views of the past as well as our contemporary culture.