Room 272

EH 513.501 Studies in Chaucer: Reinventing Chaucer

Dr. John Halbrooks

Office: HUMB, Rm. 278

Office Hours: 2:00-3:30 Tuesday/Thursday and by appointment

Email: jvhalbrooks@usouthal.edu

 
Course Description

 In the preface to his Fables Ancient and Modern, John Dryden famously writes of Chaucer that “I found I had a Soul congenial to his.”  This claimed affinity becomes a justification for rewriting Chaucer, for “reinventing” him in Dryden’s own image.  Scholars have called this moment the beginning of modern Chaucerian criticism, but actually Dryden’s text marks the midpoint of six hundred years of a reception history that begins with the manuscripts of the early fifteenth century—manuscripts that themselves constitute editorial reconstructions of the absent original.

            In this course we will trace this history, beginning with Chaucer’s constant reinvention of himself in progressively more complex iterations of his narrative voice.  We will begin by acquainting ourselves with Chaucer’s Middle English through readings of The Book of the Duchess and The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.  As we become more comfortable with the language, we will explore the rest of the corpus (including the Tales, The Parliament of Fowls, and Troilus and Criseyde) as well as the reception history.  We will compare late medieval and modern reception by studying the shift from manuscript to print culture and by charting the political and literary agendas that ultimately placed Chaucer at the beginning of the canon of English poetry.

 
Course Requirements

 Because our course is a seminar, its success depends upon your preparation for and participation in each class meeting.  This means not only that you should read the assigned primary and secondary texts but also that you should engage with them in such a way that you are prepared to contribute substantially to our discussion.  Remember that reading Chaucer’s Middle English may take longer and require more concentration than reading modern texts.  Major assignments follow (all subject to change; if there is any change, you will be notified in writing):

 
1.  Early in the semester you will write a short paper (6-8 pages).  This paper should include a close reading of some portion of The General Prologue, The Book of the Duchess, or The Parliament of Fowls.  You should not do any research for this paper beyond the notes in your text.  It will be due on September 13^th and will constitute 20% of your final grade.

 
2.  Twice during the semester I will ask you to lead the discussion on a certain topic.  For these projects you should prepare a fifteen-minute introduction in which you will bring the class up to date on the relevant scholarship; then you will invite and provide direction for discussion on the topic. Your two presentations together will constitute 20% of your grade.

 
3.  Participation in class discussion will constitute 10% of your grade.

 
4.  Your research paper will be due on November 29^th and will constitute 50% of your final grade.  You should choose your topic well in advance.  You should submit a proposal and a preliminary bibliography to me no later than October 18^th.  I will be happy to read and comment on the first ten pages of a draft, but please submit your draft by November 15^th if you would like me to read it and return it to you in time for you to make revisions.  Your final paper should be about twenty pages.  Please use MLA format.

 
Attendance Policy and Late Work

 
            You are required to attend all class meetings.  If you do not attend a meeting, then you will not be allowed to turn in any work that was due on that date.  If you miss more than two meetings, your final grade will suffer.  Work submitted late will incur a penalty.

 
Disabilities

 
            All syllabi at the University are required to include the following statement:  “If you have a specific disability that qualifies you for academic accommodations, please notify the professor and provide certification from Disability Services.  (OSSS is located in Room 270 of the Student Center; 460-7212).”

 
Plagiarism

 
            Plagiarism will result in failure of the class after one warning.  If you are unsure about what constitutes plagiarism, please ask me.

 

Course Schedule (subject to change!)

 Nota Bene: Where I have listed a given pilgrim’s tale in the primary reading for the week, you should read any associated introductions, prologues, or epilogues.  Also, I may assign additional passages, usually short, from other texts from time to time in order to supplement our reading.

 
            August 23^rd.  Introduction to the course.  Background on Chaucer and his language.  Primary Reading: Chaucers Wordes unto Adam, His Owne Scriveyn.

             August 30^th.  Primary reading: The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.  Secondary reading: E. Talbot Donaldson, “Chaucer the Pilgrim”; Trigg, Introduction (“The Congenial Souls of Chaucer and His Readers”).

             September 6^th.  Primary reading: The Book of the Duchess; The Parliament of Fowls.  Secondary reading: Trigg, Chapter 1 (“Speaking for Chaucer: Canon and Community”).

             September 13^th.  Primary reading: The Knight’s Tale.  Secondary reading: Trigg, Chapter 2 (“Signing Geoffrey Chaucer: Models of Authorship”) and Chapter 3 (“Writing Chaucer: The Fifteenth Century”).

 September 20^th.  Primary reading: The Miller’s Tale, The Reeve’s Tale, The Cook’s Tale.  Secondary reading: Trigg, Chapter 4 (“Loving Chaucer in the Privacy of Print: The Sixteenth Century”).

             September 27^th.  Primary reading: The Man of Law’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale.  Secondary reading: Trigg, Chapter 5 (“Translating Chaucer for Modernity: John Dryden”).

             October 4^th.  Primary reading: The Friar’s Tale; The Summoner’s Tale; The Merchant’s Tale.

             October 11^th.  Primary reading: The Franklin’s Tale; The Pardoner’s Tale.  Secondary reading: Trigg, Chapter 6 (“Reading Chaucer Outside the Academy: Furnivall, Woolf, and Chesterton”).

             October 18^th.  Primary reading: The Friar’s Tale; The Summoner’s Tale.  Secondary reading: Trigg, Chapter 6 (“Reading Chaucer Outside the Academy: Furnivall, Woolf, and Chesterton”).

 October 25^th.  Primary reading: The Prioress’s Tale, The Tale of Sir Thopas, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.  Secondary Reading: Trigg, Chapter 7 (“Reforming the Chaucerian Community: The Late Twentieth Century”).

             November 1^st.  Primary reading:  Excepts from The Parson’s Tale; Chaucer’s Retraction; Troilus and Criseyde, Book One.

 November 8^th.  Primary reading:  Troilus and Criseyde, Books Two and Three.

             November 15^th.  Primary reading: Troilus and Criseyde, Book Four.

 November 22^nd.  Thanksgiving

 November 29^th.  Primary reading: Troilus and Criseyde, Book Five; Robert Henryson: The Testament of Cresseid.

Goals and Objectives

 My goals and objectives in teaching the course may, of course, differ from yours in taking it.  Some of you may wish to pursue Chaucerian scholarship further; some may want to prepare themselves to teach Chaucer to undergraduates or high-school students; and some may be taking the course simply out of interest in the subject.  These reasons for taking the course are not, I think, incompatible.  My pedagogical goals are threefold:

 1.      To introduce you to the primary sources in the original language.

 2.      To study the history of Chaucerian criticism and scholarship.

 3.      To encourage you to participate in the scholarly dialogue and to equip you for doing so.