Università Roma Tre

The central and marginal role of dreams in English and German medieval literature.

Whether the product of poets' imagination or of divine inspiration, dreams and visions found their way into medieval literature. Whereas in some works the dream experience - of a religious, amorous or socio-political nature - is central to the work, in other texts dreams are embedded in the plot where they frequently play a premonitory role.
The detailed reading of passages taken primarily from literary works of the medieval English period (The Dream of the Cross, Chaucer and the Nun's Priest's Tale, Pearl, Piers Plowman), with references to the German (The Nibelungen) and Norse traditions, will allow the identification of recurring symbols and motifs and will highlight the way in which poets take up and rework themes and theories related to dreams in an original way. The philological and literary analysis of the texts, in relation to the cultural environment in which they were produced, will be accompanied by the study of the main lexical, morphological and syntactic changes in the English language over the centuries.
Students (who will be guided by the teacher in the choice of topics and bibliographic material) will be required to deliver an individual or group presentation on historical-literary, linguistic and textual topics related to works of the Germanic Middle Ages.

Students are strongly advised to attend the course. Non-attending students are requested to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course.




The centrality and marginality of dreams in English and German medieval literature.

Whether expressions of the poets' imagination or the fruit of divine inspiration, dreams and visions found wide space in medieval literature. While in some works the dream experience - of a religious, amorous or socio-political nature - is the centre of the work and the narrator is the poet, in others dreams are woven into the plot of the text where they frequently play a premonitory role.
The analytical reading of passages taken mainly from literary works of the English Middle Ages (The Dream of the Cross, Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale, Pearl, Piers Plowman), with references to the German (The Nibelungen) and Norse traditions, will allow the identification of symbols and recurring motifs and will highlight the way in which poets take up and elaborate themes and theories related to dreams in an original way. The philological and literary analysis of the texts, in relation to the cultural environment in which they were produced, will be accompanied by the study of the main lexical, morphological and syntactic changes in the English language over the centuries.
Students (who will be guided by the teacher in the choice of topics and bibliographic material) will be required to deliver an individual or group presentation on historical-literary, linguistic and textual topics related to works of the Germanic Middle Ages.

Students are strongly advised to attend the course. Non-attending students are requested to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course.

Texts

- Krapp, George Philip and Dobbie, Elliott Van Kirkhe, Anglo-Saxon poetic records: a collective edition, 6 voll., New York: Columbia University Press1931-1953.
- The Complete Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Poetry (http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ascp/)
- The Canterbury Tales and Other Works of Chaucer (Middle English): https://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/mect/index.htm
- M. Andrew and R. Waldron, edd., The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript. Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Exeter: Exeter University Press 2007.
(Pearl: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/stanbury-pearl-introduction)
- William Langland, The vision of Piers Plowman, ed.by A. V. C. Schmidt, London and New York, J.M. Dent and E.P. Dutton, 1978.https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/PPlLan/1:5?rgn=div1;view=toc
- Wisniewski R., Bartsch K., de Boor H., edd., Das Nibelungenlied, Wiesbaden : Brockhaus, 1979.
- P. Scardigli e M. Meli, Il canzoniere eddico, Milano: Garzanti 1982.

History of medieval English literature:
- D. Wallace, The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2002 (Capitoli 1,2,6,21,26).
- P. Boitani, La letteratura del Medioevo inglese, Roma, Carocci 2001.

History of the English language:
- C. Barber, The English Language: a Historical Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2009.

Textual criticism:
- Anna Maria Luiselli Fadda, Tradizioni manoscritte e critica del testo nel Medioevo germanico, Roma-Bari: Laterza 2004 (Parte II e III).


Additional bibliographical material will be provided by the teacher during the course.
Students are advised to attend classes. Those who cannot attend them are requested to contact the teacher at the beginning of the course.