SYLLABUS
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Please do all your assigned readings before we meet in class so we can assure a dedicated and engaged conversation together to achieve the highest learning effect.
Dates will be adjusted for the Fall 2024 semester. Most important changes: We will read the entire romance, Tristan, which will come in the middle of the semester.
Aug. 27: Introduction; what is love, what is eroticism, why would we want to study this, why would this be an academic subject: syllabus, library resources, research methods, study ethics, time management. Homework assignment; chatroom on D2L, zoom, Tophat.com, etc. It is critically important that you will be signed up to Tophat so that you can participate in all classes actively, answering the questions online, providing critical statements or responses. Tophat is now available through D2L and free of charge.
Aug. 29: Amt and Classen (enough to study Amt for this class)
and come to class prepared to answer questions or to raise questions yourself.
Sept. 3: keep reading, focus on the section by Classen
Sept. 5: We will work also with Tophat. Please be subscribed. All testing and attendance will take place there. Continue with Amt/Classen. You need to know the major stages in the history of the Middle Ages, the social structure, the major external threats, the history of the crusades (in very general terms), the concept of the court). Focus will be on the high and late Middle Ages in historical, political, and literary terms. We will use Top Hat from now on to test your homework, your understanding of the material, and there will be numerous discussions online on Top Hat while we meet in class. So, let’s also look at this: TIME TABLE FOR THE MIDDLE AGES. This is also your homework for Thu. Fill in at least 4 rows.
We finish today with the literary history of the Middle Ages, pp. 11-14 (Amt/Classen). I will ask you questions on Top Hat about this section. The first reading, see here Video
Sept. 10: Finishing with the last questions about the late Middle Ages. Focus on the list of the 7 C-words, fundamental for the acquisition of love. We will also study some quotes by the famous C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves (1960). We read one of the earliest Troubadour poems by Guillaume le Neuf (William 9th): no. 6, p. 77-78, in the section 3: Lyrics of the Troubadours and Trouveres
Sept. 12: Apollonius of Tyre. Trigger warning: There will be some scenes that, certainly troubling, amount to sexual violence. We will have to deal with them critically since they are part of some of the narratives covered in this class, and they are unfortunately part of life. If you have trouble with that, please let me know, I’ll help you as much as I can.
Sept. 17: We continue with Apollonius
Sept. 19: Finishing with Apollonius; we then turn to Marie de France: read my intro.
Sept. 20: First paper is due at 8 p.m.
Sept. 24: Marie de France’s prologue, and Guigemar
Sept. 26: 1st Exam, on Top Hat: History of the Middle Ages; time frame, paradigm shifts, discoveries, Apollonius, and Marie de France. Subsequently: Continue with Guigemar.
Oct. 1: Alert: Today we meet in a zoom room: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/82807733464
We discuss: Marie de France: The Two Lovers, and Lanval
Oct. 3: We continue with our discussion of Lanval
Oct. 8: Le Fresne and Yonec
Oct. 10: Eliduc
Oct. 15: We continue with Eliduc, and explore what we know about Gottfried and his Tristan. 2nd Paper is due at 8 p.m.: on D2L: only MS Word files, please
Oct. 17: We continue with Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan: For a quick introduction, see this link. The online link will give you a brief synopsis. You must familiarize yourself with the content of this romance at least through this source. Please read the prologue, a requirement! (for a summary of the actual text, see here).
Oct. 22: Again, the Prologue. Then: Tristan: the story of his parents, death, and the orphan, Tristan’s education: Here is a link for an older (but free) translation: or copy and paste: https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/German/Tristanhome.php
Oct. 24: Tristan: Tristan at Mark’s court, music, languages, hunting, knighthood
Oct. 29: Tristan; a. return to Cornwall, b. Morold taking tributes; c. Tristan’s role as the new David; d. Tristan’s fight against Morold; d1: the role of the island; d2. the two boats; e. the poison on Morold’s sword; f. Tristan’s wound; g. departure for Ireland; h. his healing; i. Tristan’s report about Ireland, j. fight against the dragon; l. the dragon’s tongue; m. the seneschal; n. Tantris in the bath; o. the splinter and Tristan’s sword; p. Isolde’s brilliance; q. the mother queen’s involvement; r. the legal process; s. the mother’s involvement; t. the trial by duel; u. the seneschal’s self-defeat, humiliation.
Oct. 31: Tristan: the love potion, the secret love affair; Mark’s jealousy, efforts by the dwarf Melot to catch the lovers in flagrante; the orchard; the ordeal with Isolde
Nov. 5: Tristan: Tristan wins the dog Petitcreiu, gift for Isolde, the magic of music, Isolde’s suffering and noble character, expulsion of the lovers
Nov. 7: Tristan: love cave, discovery of the lovers, return to the court, Mark’s observation of the lovers; Tristan’s departure; Isolde’s sorrow; fragmentary closure
Nov. 12: 2nd exam, on Top Hat. Macabru
Nov. 14: We continue with Macabru (listen also to this version or this female performance and this version) and then turn to the women’s love poetry, troubairitz, pp. 117-118 (intro.) and pp. 119-121We continue with the poems by the troubairitz, esp. Comtessa de Diaz.
Nov. 19: Erotic Tales) Dietrich of the Glezze, “The Belt” Ms. Codex Palatinus germanicus 4
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Nov. 21: Cont., “The Belt.” Today, we meet in a zoom room: https://arizona.zoom.us/j/83300608758
Nov. 26: “The Knight with the Hazelnuts” and “The Search for the Happily Married Couple” – to make it easier for you, I’ll replace our in-class meeting with homework assignment on TopHat.
Nov. 28: Thanksgiving; no class
Dec. 3: We discuss: “The Knight with the Hazelnuts” and “The Search for the Happily Married Couple” The 3rd paper is due, 8 p.m., on D2L, only MS Word file. Create a title, then develop a thesis statement (ca. 50 words), then offer the argument, (ca. 150 words), conclude (ca. 50 words), and have a bibliography: 3 monographs and 3 scholarly articles from the last 10 years at most. One of the articles in a scholarly journal you must have read and integrated into your argument (supporting your thesis or not; you are also invited to consult any of my articles if pertinent). You can choose either: Gottfried’s Tristan, Dietrich of the Glezze (Gletze), or Heinrich Kaufringer. If you find it valuable, please use “The Knight” as your main text. But in that case, the bibliography might be more difficult. Search under the category of “maeren.” Grading (always up to a max of pts): Thesis: 10 pts. Argument: 50 pts. Conclusion: 10 pts. Bibliography: 15 pts. Inclusion of one article: 15 pts.
Dec. 5: 3rd exam, on top hat, and: “The Little Bunny Rabbit” (Erotic Tales)
Dec. 10: “Two Merchants and the Loyal Wife” (Erotic Tales). Last day of class
Please do the Teaching Evaluation!
Final reflections:
1. How does honor interact with love as reflected by our medieval poets?
2. What do our poets say about human vices and virtues in relation to love?
3. What does love have to do with utopia?
4. Love and marriage are not automatically synonymous. What problems and conflicts surface throughout the entire Middle Ages.
Again: TEACHING EVALUATION: Please go online and provide an objective evaluation of this course
TCE (Evaluation): Please go to our D2L page and start this evaluation.
May 8: Last chance to have your grade reviewed in a possible case of discrepancy or disagreement.
(For an introduction to Wolfram von Eschenbach, see this article, and to Titurel, see this short article online. We read: Titurel, part IWolfram von Eschenbach, Titurel, part II)