Literature studies

Summer semester
 Foucault
• “Plurality”

• Connection between the movie and Foucault’s

theory of biopower, author/reader, confession,
confinement, discipline

(http://www.michel-foucault.com/concepts/index.html)
Quick Revision
 Quick Revision

• Clarify the concept of the semiotic triangle

 Quick Revision

• Clarify the concept of the semiotic triangle

• How is power exercised through binary opposition?

 Quick Revision

• Clarify the concept of the semiotic triangle

• How is power exercised through binary opposition?

• What is a new historical approach to literature?

 History of English
• St. Augustine begins to
• 410 convert to English

• 449 • Angles and Saxons arrive

in Britain
• 597
• The Danelaw treaty signed
• 886 between the English and
the Danes
• 1066
• Normans conquer England

• Roman legions leave Britain

 History of English
• St. Augustine begins to
• 410 convert to English

• 449 • Angles and Saxons arrive

in Britain
• 597
• The Danelaw treaty signed
• 886 between the English and
the Danes
• 1066
• Normans conquer England

• Roman legions leave Britain

 History of English
• St. Augustine begins to
• 410 convert to English

• 449 • Angles and Saxons arrive

in Britain
• 597
• The Danelaw treaty signed
• 886 between the English and
the Danes
• 1066
• Normans conquer England

• Roman legions leave Britain

 History of English
• St. Augustine begins to
• 410 convert to English

• 449 • Angles and Saxons arrive

in Britain
• 597
• The Danelaw treaty signed
• 886 between the English and
the Danes
• 1066
• Normans conquer England

• Roman legions leave Britain

 History of English
• St. Augustine begins to
• 410 convert to English

• 449 • Angles and Saxons arrive

in Britain
• 597
• The Danelaw treaty signed
• 886 between the English and
the Danes
• 1066
• Normans conquer England

• Roman legions leave Britain

 History of English
• St. Augustine begins to
• 410 convert to English

• 449 • Angles and Saxons arrive

in Britain
• 597
• The Danelaw treaty signed
• 886 between the English and
the Danes
• 1066
• Normans conquer England

• Roman legions leave Britain

Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)

• 5th century – tribes of Saxons, Angles, Jutes

 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)

• 5th century – tribes of Saxons, Angles, Jutes

• Germanic language ➢ today called Old English

 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)

• 5th century – tribes of Saxons, Angles, Jutes

• Germanic language ➢ today called Old English

• Influence of Latin, French, Scandinavian languages

Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Small quantity of verse and prose produced
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Small quantity of verse and prose produced

• Literature exclusively in Latin

 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Small quantity of verse and prose produced

• Literature exclusively in Latin

• The age of manuscripts x The age of print (1473,

William Caxton)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Small quantity of verse and prose produced

• Literature exclusively in Latin

• The age of manuscripts x The age of print (1473,

William Caxton)

• The tradition of English literature begins with

Geoffrey Chaucer
Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Venerable Bede (probably 673-735)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Venerable Bede (probably 673-735)
• The Ecclesiastical History of the English People – written in
Latin, chronicles of the English nation
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Venerable Bede (probably 673-735)
• The Ecclesiastical History of the English People – written in
Latin, chronicles of the English nation

• Character of Caedmon – an illiterate shepherd, received the gift

of composing poetry by God while asleep
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Venerable Bede (probably 673-735)
• The Ecclesiastical History of the English People – written in
Latin, chronicles of the English nation

• Character of Caedmon – an illiterate shepherd, received the gift

of composing poetry by God while asleep

• Caedmon’s Hymn – the most famous poem, considered a

Bede’s death song
Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)

• Religious epic based on the Old Testament

 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)

• Religious epic based on the Old Testament

• Genesis (around 700) and Exodus (early 8th century)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)

• Religious epic based on the Old Testament

• Genesis (around 700) and Exodus (early 8th century)

• Cynewulf (around 800) – first to sign his work ➢

readers could pray for his soul
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)

• Religious epic based on the Old Testament

• Genesis (around 700) and Exodus (early 8th century)

• Cynewulf (around 800) – first to sign his work ➢

readers could pray for his soul
• poems Elene, The Phoenix, The Panther, The Whale
Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Four manuscripts preserved from the period of
Norman conquest:
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Four manuscripts preserved from the period of
Norman conquest:
• the Beowulf manuscript
 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Four manuscripts preserved from the period of
Norman conquest:
• the Beowulf manuscript

• the Bodleian manuscript (including Genesis and Exodus)

 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Four manuscripts preserved from the period of
Norman conquest:
• the Beowulf manuscript

• the Bodleian manuscript (including Genesis and Exodus)

• the Vercelli manuscript (including The Dream of the Rood)

 Old and Middle English
(700-1485)
• Four manuscripts preserved from the period of
Norman conquest:
• the Beowulf manuscript

• the Bodleian manuscript (including Genesis and Exodus)

• the Vercelli manuscript (including The Dream of the Rood)

• the Exeter manuscript (including The Seafarer)

The Beowulf
 The Beowulf
• Time of origin a matter of controversy: 700-1000
 The Beowulf
• Time of origin a matter of controversy: 700-1000

• Unknown author, originally transmitted orally

 The Beowulf
• Time of origin a matter of controversy: 700-1000

• Unknown author, originally transmitted orally

• Heroic epic set in Denmark, Geatland and Sweden

 The Beowulf
• Time of origin a matter of controversy: 700-1000

• Unknown author, originally transmitted orally

• Heroic epic set in Denmark, Geatland and Sweden

• Combination of Christian and pagan elements

• Some stories belong to the world of ancient Germanic legends
The Seafarer
 The Seafarer
• A direct first-person account of hardships of life on
the sea
 The Seafarer
• A direct first-person account of hardships of life on
the sea

• Paradox ➢ the sea life portrayed as bitter and

terrible, later contrasted with land-life – glorifies the
difficulties of the former, mocks the easiness of the
latter
 The Seafarer
• A direct first-person account of hardships of life on
the sea

• Paradox ➢ the sea life portrayed as bitter and

terrible, later contrasted with land-life – glorifies the
difficulties of the former, mocks the easiness of the
latter

• Religious aspect ➢ land = misery, sea = heaven

Mæg ic be me sylfum         soðgied wrecan, 

siþas secgan,         hu ic geswincdagum 

earfoðhwile         oft þrowade, 

bitre breostceare         gebiden hæbbe,
THIS is the truth: the way I toiled
gecunnad in ceole         cearselda fela, 

atol yþa gewealc,         þær mec oft bigeat 

distraught, for days on end
nearo nihtwaco         æt nacan stefnan, 
 enduring cares and bitter bale
þonne he be clifum cnossað.         Calde within my breast, my keel cleaving
geþrungen 

wæron mine fet,         forste gebunden,
endless halls of heaving waves

caldum clommum,         þær þa ceare I would often at the bark's bows

seofedun 
 wake
hat ymb heortan;         hungor innan slat 

merewerges mod.         þæt se mon ne wat 

the strait night through, steering
þe him on foldan         fægrost limpeð, 
 her clear of clashing cliffs
hu ic earmcearig         iscealdne sæ
Cold fetters froze my feet
and hunger seared my heart
with sore sea-weariness

(http://resources.desmet.org/bergman/page396%20the%20seafarer.htm)
The Dream of the Rood
 The Dream of the Rood

• Considered a masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon religious

poetry
 The Dream of the Rood

• Considered a masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon religious

poetry

• Depicts a vision of the Crucifixion through the

narration by the tree (Christ’s Cross)
 The Dream of the Rood

• Considered a masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon religious

poetry

• Depicts a vision of the Crucifixion through the

narration by the tree (Christ’s Cross)

• Paradox ➢ death is also a victory

"Now I command you, my beloved warrior,
Nu ic þe hate, hæleð min se leofa,
that you tell this sight to men [and]
þæt ðu þas gesyhðe secge mannum,
disclose these words--that it is the cross of glory
onwreoh wordum þæt hit is wuldres beam,
on which the almighty God suffered
se ðe ælmihtig god on þrowode
for the many sins of mankind
for mancynnes manegum synnum
100 and Adam's former action
ond Adomes ealdgewyrhtum.
He there tasted death; but again the Lord arose
Deað he þær byrigde, hwæðere eft dryhten aras
with his great might as a help to man.
mid his miclan mihte mannum to helpe.
(http://texanglican.blogspot.cz/2004/12/dream-of-rood.html)
Old and Middle English
Prose
 Old and Middle English
Prose

• To instruct and to inform

 Old and Middle English
Prose

• To instruct and to inform

• Developed in the late 9th century under strong

influence of Latin
 Old and Middle English
Prose

• To instruct and to inform

• Developed in the late 9th century under strong

influence of Latin

• During this period mostly translations from Latin

Old and Middle English
Prose
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• King Alfred the Great (reigned 871-899)
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• King Alfred the Great (reigned 871-899)
• Educated, good translator, encouraged others to translate
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• King Alfred the Great (reigned 871-899)
• Educated, good translator, encouraged others to translate

• Translated Pope’s Pastoral Care

 Old and Middle English
Prose
• King Alfred the Great (reigned 871-899)
• Educated, good translator, encouraged others to translate

• Translated Pope’s Pastoral Care

• The best A-S poetry produced a century later during Benedictine

reform – homilies, sermons, legends
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• King Alfred the Great (reigned 871-899)
• Educated, good translator, encouraged others to translate

• Translated Pope’s Pastoral Care

• The best A-S poetry produced a century later during Benedictine

reform – homilies, sermons, legends

• Benedictines produced literature to help people to find way

back to God
Middle English Poetry and
Religious Prose
 Middle English Poetry and
Religious Prose
• After Norman Conquest (1066) English writings at
the margins of society
 Middle English Poetry and
Religious Prose
• After Norman Conquest (1066) English writings at
the margins of society

• Official languages – Norman French + Latin

 Middle English Poetry and
Religious Prose
• After Norman Conquest (1066) English writings at
the margins of society

• Official languages – Norman French + Latin

• Early Middle English ➢ 1150-1350, tight contact

with the Normans – increase in vocabulary
 Middle English Poetry and
Religious Prose
• After Norman Conquest (1066) English writings at
the margins of society

• Official languages – Norman French + Latin

• Early Middle English ➢ 1150-1350, tight contact

with the Normans – increase in vocabulary

• Domesday Book (1086) – in Latin, list of land the

English has lost
Old and Middle English
Prose
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• Brut (around 1200)
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• Brut (around 1200)
• First poetic and serious attempt by priest Layamon
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• Brut (around 1200)
• First poetic and serious attempt by priest Layamon

• A national epic about mythical Britain, chronicle in verse

 Old and Middle English
Prose
• Brut (around 1200)
• First poetic and serious attempt by priest Layamon

• A national epic about mythical Britain, chronicle in verse

• Model – French chivalry chronicle in verse Roman de Brute

(1155)
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• Brut (around 1200)
• First poetic and serious attempt by priest Layamon

• A national epic about mythical Britain, chronicle in verse

• Model – French chivalry chronicle in verse Roman de Brute

(1155)

• 16 000 verses, combination of OE legends/myths, the true hero

is King Arthur
Old and Middle English
Prose
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• The Owl and the Nightingale (around 1200)
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• The Owl and the Nightingale (around 1200)
• Genre of debate/conflictus – two sides arguing
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• The Owl and the Nightingale (around 1200)
• Genre of debate/conflictus – two sides arguing

• Much practised by Latin poets

 Old and Middle English
Prose
• The Owl and the Nightingale (around 1200)
• Genre of debate/conflictus – two sides arguing

• Much practised by Latin poets

• Birds argue, they can agree only in admiring the man who is to
judge between them – Nicholas of Guildford
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• The Owl and the Nightingale (around 1200)
• Genre of debate/conflictus – two sides arguing

• Much practised by Latin poets

• Birds argue, they can agree only in admiring the man who is to
judge between them – Nicholas of Guildford

• In fact, it is one of the first comic poems

Old and Middle English
Prose
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• John Wycliffe (1320-1384)
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• John Wycliffe (1320-1384)
• Master at Oxford University, contemporary of Chaucer
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• John Wycliffe (1320-1384)
• Master at Oxford University, contemporary of Chaucer

• Wrote sermons and preachings, addressing people in

straightforward style
 Old and Middle English
Prose
• John Wycliffe (1320-1384)
• Master at Oxford University, contemporary of Chaucer

• Wrote sermons and preachings, addressing people in

straightforward style

• The Wycliffe Bible (finished around 1382) ➢ extremely accurate

translation from the Latin, reinforced position of English as the
official language
Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Writers looked back to history, tried to revive old
language
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Writers looked back to history, tried to revive old
language

• Unrhymed alliterative verse caused by:

 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Writers looked back to history, tried to revive old
language

• Unrhymed alliterative verse caused by:

• Decline of French in England of Edward III.

 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Writers looked back to history, tried to revive old
language

• Unrhymed alliterative verse caused by:

• Decline of French in England of Edward III.

• The continuing increase in literacy, turn to mass

production of manuscript copies
Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• The Vision Concerning the Piers Plowman
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• The Vision Concerning the Piers Plowman
• Three copies from around 1370, 80, 90
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• The Vision Concerning the Piers Plowman
• Three copies from around 1370, 80, 90

• Religious satirical allegory

 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• The Vision Concerning the Piers Plowman
• Three copies from around 1370, 80, 90

• Religious satirical allegory

• Mysterious authorship, probably – William Langland

(1332-1400)
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• The Vision Concerning the Piers Plowman
• Three copies from around 1370, 80, 90

• Religious satirical allegory

• Mysterious authorship, probably – William Langland

(1332-1400)

• Three parts ➢ Dowell, Dobet, Dobest

 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• The Vision Concerning the Piers Plowman
• Three copies from around 1370, 80, 90

• Religious satirical allegory

• Mysterious authorship, probably – William Langland

(1332-1400)

• Three parts ➢ Dowell, Dobet, Dobest

• Pier embodies a plowman, peasant, religious leader, perfect

priest and even Christ himself
Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (around 1370)
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (around 1370)
• the Gawain poet ➢ unknown author, probably composed
poems Pearl, Cleanness, Patience
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (around 1370)
• the Gawain poet ➢ unknown author, probably composed
poems Pearl, Cleanness, Patience

• Set in a world of pure fantasy, based on the chivalrous code of

honour, courage and modesty
 Alliterative Revival
(1350-1400)
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (around 1370)
• the Gawain poet ➢ unknown author, probably composed
poems Pearl, Cleanness, Patience

• Set in a world of pure fantasy, based on the chivalrous code of

honour, courage and modesty

• Arthurian writing ➢ adventures developed into a story, the main

hero is King Arthur
 After the siege and the assault of Troy, when that
burg was destroyed and burnt to ashes, and the
traitor tried for his treason, the noble Æneas and his
kin sailed forth to become princes and patrons of
well-nigh all the Western Isles. Thus Romulus built
Rome (and gave to the city his own name, which it
bears even to this day); and Ticius turned him to
Tuscany; and Langobard raised him up dwellings in
Lombardy; and Felix Brutus sailed far over the
French flood, and founded the kingdom of Britain,
wherein have been war and waste and wonder, and
bliss and bale, ofttimes since.
   And in that kingdom of Britain have been wrought
more gallant deeds than in any other; but of all
British kings Arthur was the most valiant, as I have
heard tell.
SIÞEN þe sege and þe assaut watz sesed at Troye,
Þe borȝ brittened and brent to brondeȝ and askez,
Þe tulk þat þe trammes of tresoun þer wroȝt
Watz tried for his tricherie, þe trewest on erthe:
Hit watz Ennias þe athel, and his highe kynde,
Þat siþen depreced prouinces, and patrounes bicome
Welneȝe of al þe wele in þe west iles.
Fro riche Romulus to Rome ricchis hym swyþe,
With gret bobbaunce þat burȝe he biges vpon fyrst,
And neuenes hit his aune nome, as hit now hat;
Tirius to Tuskan and teldes bigynnes,
Langaberde in Lumbardie lyftes vp homes,
And fer ouer þe French flod Felix Brutus
On mony bonkkes ful brode Bretayn he settez
wyth wynne,
Where werre and wrake and wonder
Bi syþez hatz wont þerinne,
And oft boþe blysse and blunder
Ful skete hatz skyfted synne.
Ande quen þis Bretayn watz bigged bi þis burn rych,
Bolde bredden þerinne, baret þat lofden,
In mony turned tyme tene þat wroȝten.
Mo ferlyes on þis folde han fallen here oft
Þen in any oþer þat I wot, syn þat ilk tyme.
Bot of alle þat here bult, of Bretaygne kynges,
Ay watz Arthur þe hendest, as I haf herde telle.
(http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gawaintx.htm)
 Beowulf
• Origin

• Genre, style

• Kennings

• Pagan x Christian elements

• Settings

• Characters, society
 The Dream of the Rood

• Origin, style

• Characters

• Effect/moral

• Appeal to the reader

For the next time
 For the next time

• Read the Canterbury Tales extract and be ready to

discuss it