Module FREN3361: REBELLION, FEUD AND CRUSADE IN MEDIEVAL TEXTS

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (French)

FREN3361: REBELLION, FEUD AND CRUSADE IN MEDIEVAL TEXTS

Prerequisites

• French Language 2 (FREN2051) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To examine the chansons de geste and texts inspired by them.
• To reflect upon the relation between literature and historical context, the justification of violence and the relationship between the aesthetic form and style of the texts and their content.

Content

• Set texts will include chansons de geste and other twelfth- and thirteenth-century texts related to the themes of the module. See the module's webpage for details of the current set texts.

Learning Outcomes

• knowledge of important French texts
• knowledge of a crucial period in French history
• knowledge of innovative approaches to analysing relationships between literature and history

• development of critical skills - close reading of primary texts
• ability to relate texts judiciously to overarching themes of conflict and war
• ability to analyse imaginatively and rigorously relationships between literature and history
• ability to critique secondary material

• critical and analytical
• essay-writing and commentary
• structuring of arguments
• independent learning

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be taught intensively either in Term I or in Term II on a 'short-fat 'basis.
• Lectures and student-led seminars, some of which will involve guided close reading of extracts from the texts; others will consist of discussion of the ethical, political and historical issues raised by the corpus.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University