Advanced Topics in Medieval and Early Modern Literature: Medieval Bodies

Catalog description

Medieval bodies are bodies in flux; they can be male and/or female; transcendent or transgender; holy, airborne, animal, wounded, armored, even reborn. This course will survey readings from Beowulf to Malory, covering Anglo-Saxon poems from the 8th century all the way to 15th century Arthurian romances, and looking for ideas about and ambitions for managing flesh. We will also seek out contemporary parallels and examine questions plaguing bodies even nowadays like: What renders a body dead or illegal or disabled? How might gender conformity pave the way for love or divine favor? how do gender rules change over time, with wealth or with special equipment? What ennobles beastly bodies or gives trees souls and songs?