The course focuses on the main currents and representative figures of the High Renaissance in England and the transition to the Baroque. Offering an outline of the Elizabethan, Jacobean and Caroline ages, it highlights the social, political and cultural characteristics of each. The discussion centers around the key figures of Sidney, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, Donne and Milton. Seminar discussions follow a similar agenda, offering a close reading of exemplary texts, such as The Faerie Queene, The Spanish Tragedy, Doctor Faustus, As You Like It, Macbeth and Paradise Lost.
Instructors: Prof. Dr. E. Pancheva, Dr. A. Asparuhov, Dr. G. Niagolov
6th semester, 3rd year
Teaching: 30 lectures and 30 seminars
ECTS Credits: 5
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Detailed Programme
English Medieval and Renaissance Literature
SYLLABUS
Lectures:
1. Introductory
2. The Elizabethan Age: Social and Cultural Perspectives
3. Elizabethan Poetry and Criticism: Sir Philip Sidney
4. The Elizabethan Epic: Edmund Spenser
5. The Elizabethan Stage: Public and Courtly: John Lyly, Thomas Kyd.
6. The Rise of Drama: Christopher Marlowe.
7. Shakespeare the Elizabethan.
8. Jacobean Shakespeare.
9. The Jacobean Age: Social and Cultural Perspectives
10. Jacobean Drama: Genres and Conventions. Ben Jonson.
11. Metaphysical Poetry: John Donne.
12. The Age of Baroque: Social and Cultural Perspectives. John Milton.
Seminars (Dr. Georgi Niagolov’s version):
1. Introductory
2. The Elizabethan Sonnet Sequence: Sir Philip Sidney, Astrophil and Stella,
3. The Elizabethan Sonnet Sequence: Edmund Spenser, Amoretti
4. Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene , Book Two
5. Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy
6. Thomas Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy
7. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus
8. Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus
9. William Shakespeare, The Sonnets:
10. William Shakespeare, As You Like It
11. William Shakespeare, As You Like It
12. William Shakespeare, Macbeth
13. William Shakespeare, Macbeth
14. John Donne, Songs and Sonnets: The Flea, The Sunne Rising, A Valediction: Of Weeping, Holy Sonnet I
15. John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I
EVALUATION
The final grade for the course is the SUM of the CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT mark (amounting to 25% of the final grade) and the FINAL EXAMINATION mark (amounting to 75% of the final grade).
FINAL EXAMINATION
The final examination is written and takes place within 4 astronomical hours. The examination paper has two parts: A) theoretical part consisting of three 150-200 word answers to three randomly chosen questions concerning the literary and cultural history of the studied period; and B) a 300-400 word analysis of a given literary text (excerpt or short poem).
Evaluation method
The maximum amount of points awarded for the examination paper is 60. The answer of each of the three questions in part one of the examination paper brings a maximum of 10 points for accuracy and comprehensive coverage of the topic. The analysis in part two brings a maximum of 30 points of which 10 points are awarded for content, 10 points are awarded for organisation, i.e. clarity and cohesion of the text, and 10 points are awarded for original thinking and creativity. There is a pass threshold of 15 points for each part of the examination paper, i.e. no one will successfully pass the examination unless he or she has obtained at least 15 points in each part of the examination paper. The use of any electronic devices during the exam is not allowed.
RECOMMENDED BIBLIOGRAPHY
| Author/Editor | Title | BASRC Class | ||
| General Guidebooks | ||||
| Mincoff , Marco | A History of English Literature | SV 820.9 MIN | ||
| Shurbanov , Alexander | Poetics of the English Renaissance | SV 820.9 SHU | ||
| Pancheva, Evgenia | Dispersing Semblances: An Essay on Renaissance Culture | SV 940.2 PAN | ||
| Wallace, David et al. (eds.) | The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature | SVR 820.9001 CAM | ||
| Loewenstein, David et al. (ed.) | The Cambridge History of Early Modern English Literature | SVR 820.9003 CAM | ||
| Ford, Boris (ed.) | The New Pelican Guide to English Literature | SV 820.9 FOR | ||
| Bolton, W. F. et al. (eds.) | The Sphere History of English Literature | Professor Mincoff Memorial Library | ||
| Sanders, Andrew | The Short Oxford History of English Literature | SVR 820.9 SAN | ||
| Head, Dominic | The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English | SVR 820.3 | ||
| Hollander , JohnKermode , Frank | The Literature of Renaissance England | SV 820.9 HOL | ||
| Godden, Malcolm | The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature | SV 829.0920 | ||
| Pulsanio, Philip et al. (eds.) | A Companion to Anglo-Saxon Literature | SV 829.0922 | ||
| Brown, Peter (ed.) | A Companion to Medieval English Literature and Culture | SVR 820.9001 COM | ||
| Hattaway , Michael | A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture | SV 820.9003 HAT | ||
| Veldhoen, N. H. G. E. | Companion to Early Middle English Literature | SV 820.900120 VEL | ||
| Trapp , J. B. | Medieval English Literature | SV 820.8001 TRA | ||
| Beadle, Richard | The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre | SV 792.0942 | ||
| Mitchell , Bruce | An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England | |||
| Myers , A. R. | England in the Late Middle Ages | 3SV 942.2 MYE | ||
| Critical Literature on specific topics | ||||
| Achim Bednorz | The Art of Gothic: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting | SVR 700 TOM | ||
| Allport, Gordon W. | Studies in Medieval English Romances | SV 820.9001 | ||
| Beadle Richard | The Cambridge Companion to Medieval English Theatre | SV 792.0942 | ||
| Bindoff , S. T. , Stanley Thomas | Tudor England | SV 942.05 BIN | ||
| Boitani, Pietro et al. (eds.) | The Cambridge Companion to Chaucer | SV 821.1 CAM | ||
| Brewer, Derek | A New Introduction to Chaucer | SV 821.1 BRE | ||
| Brown, Peter (ed.) | A Companion to Chaucer | SV 821.1 COM | ||
| Chambers , E. K. | English Literature at the Close of the Middle Ages | SV 820.8 CHA | ||
| Chute, Marchette | Goeffrey Chaucer of England | SV 821.17 CHU | ||
| Donoghue, Daniel | Old English Literature: A Short Introduction | SV 829.0922 DON | ||
| Ford , Boris | Chaucer and the Alliterative Tradition | SV 820.9 FOR | ||
| Gransden , Antonia | Legends, Traditions and History in Medieval England | SV 942.03 GRA | ||
| Hamilton, Donna B. (ed.) | A Concise Companion to English Renaissance Literature | SV 820.9003 | ||
| Harris , John Wesley | Medieval Theatre in Context: An Introduction | SV 792.09 HAR | ||
| Hattaway , Michael | Renaissance and Reformations: An Introduction to Early Modern English Literature | SV 820.9003 HAT | ||
| Hussey , S. | Chaucer: An Introduction | SV 821.1 HUS | ||
| Klein, Lisa M. | The Exemplary Sidney and the Elizabethan Sonneteer | SVS 821.321 KLE | ||
| Lever, J. W. | The Elizabethan Love Sonnet | Professor Mincoff Memorial Library | ||
| McGrade, A. S. | The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Philosophy | 3SV 189.22 | ||
| McGrath , Alister E. , Alister Edgar | The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation | SV 274.06 MCG | ||
| Pearsall, Derek Albert | Arthurian Romance: A Short Introduction | SV 809.93351 PEA | ||
| Pincombe, Michael | Elizabethan Humanism | SV 820.9003 PIN | ||
| Plumb, J. H. | The Italian Renaissance | 3SV 945.05 PLU | ||
| Richardson, C. | Medieval Drama | SV 822.109 | ||
| Ruggiero, Guido (ed.) | A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance | SVR 940.21 COM | ||
| Rutherford, Donald | The Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy | 3SV 190.9032 | ||
| Stenton, Doris Mary | English Society in the Early Middle Ages (1066-1307) | SV 942.02 STE | ||
| Vasta, E. | Interpretations of Piers Plowman | Professor Mincoff Memorial Library | ||
| Wickham , Glynne | The Medieval Theatre | SV 792.094 WIC | ||
| ONLINE RESOURCES | ||||
| http://www.luminarium.org/http://omacl.org/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/browse.htmlhttp://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/ren.htm | ||||