The Middle Ages

This course will examine the culture of medieval Germany in a European context through representative examples of its most important literary genres, romance and poetry. The courtly romance and poetry emerged in the last third of the twelfth century in France. It became popular throughout Europe and its influence has been constant in the western literary tradition ever since. The primary goal of the course will be to acquire a general understanding of the poetics, the rhetoric, and the ideological motifs of these texts. Students will enhance their knowledge of the literary landscape in the Middle Ages. Readings will include Hartmann von Aue’s Iwein, Wolfram of Eschenbach’s Parzival, and a selection of Minnesong poems. Special emphasis will be given to the discussion of the languages of emotions and passions, i.e. how expressions of affect are constructed and handled within the texts and how specific configurations of emotions and passions are negotiated. In addition to that we will consider the ways in which the world of medieval romances and epics has been perceived by modern film and opera.