Vertiefungsseminar Middle English Dream Visions Do 10:30-12:00

The OED defines a dream vision as a -narrative mode, chiefly associated with medieval poetry, in which the author recounts an alleged dream, the subject of which is typically open to allegorical interpretation. - The topics used in these medieval poems are very diverse and range from love to loss, politics to philosophy and religion, and the tone can be serious as well as comical. Nevertheless, dream poems usually share several typical features: they are told in the first person, they have a certain supernatural or surreal content and they involve some kind of instruction for the dreamer. In many the dreamer is naïve or ignorant, has a companion or guide and encounters a beautiful dream landscape. The chief influence on the form were the Latin Somnium Scipionis of Cicero with Macrobius’s commentary on it, and the French Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, but the classical and biblical traditions of revelations and visions were equally important. In this class, we will discuss the origin, influences and qualities of dream poetry and in close reading sessions work out their features and diversities in order to achieve a wide understanding and knowledge of this popular medieval genre. The following poems will be read and discussed: - Chaucer’s translation of The Romaunt of the Rose, - Pearl, - Parliament of Fowls - Winner and Waster. An interpretation of these poems requires some knowledge of the literary and religious tradition of medieval dream visions and of the theory of medieval literary genres. Moreover, the understanding of Middle English visionary poems seems to be complicated for the modern reader by their close connection to allegory. Thus, in addition to the interpretation of the poems, we will investigate the historical and theoretical essentials for their adequate understanding. All texts will be provided via ILIAS. Voraussetzungen The completion of basic module I (Ältere Anglistik) is required. Although translations will be provided in most cases, students should be willing to work with Middle English texts and their language. Leistungsnachweis BN: t.b.a. AP: oral exam, term paper Anglistik u.Amerikanistik (BA, PO 2013) Kernfach The completion of basic module I (Ältere Anglistik) is required. Although translations will be provided in most cases, students should be willing to work with Middle English texts and their language. BN: t.b.a. AP: oral exam, term paper Universität Düsseldorf WiSe 2015/16 Umbach Carolin