Questions on medieval literature

Teacher(s)

Cavagna Mattia;

Language

French

Prerequisites

• a good knowledge of the basics of Old and Middle French ;
• familiarity with basic notions of literary analysis and genres ;
• successful completion of an introductory course on medieval French literature. 

Main themes

In the series of courses which examine authors and literary history at BAC level, this course has twin objectives :

• to deepen knowledge of medieval French literature ;
• to highlight the special medieval characteristics of a particular topic ;
• to compare this topic with other periods in French literature, particularly the 16th century ;
• to make students aware of interdisciplinarity and the critical perspective.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	Recognise and analyse the literary themes and practices of medieval works
2	Understand and recognise the constraints linked to literary genres ; they will be able to  detect the borderline cases and the interferences between the genres ;
3	Make the relation between the different parts of the course and the academic publications from the compulsory reading list
4	Question the links between literature and medieval society/civilisation
5	Make use of the contribution of the different disciplines (history, history of art, anthropology, theology, study of manuscripts etc.)
6	Bring out the relevance of contacts between the linguistic domains (Latin ' vernacular languages ; vernacular languages between each other)
7	Make critical and methodological comparisons between the different periods of French literature.

Content

The subject of the 2025–26 course will be Laughter in Medieval Epics.
This course examines the presence of laughter in a literary genre whose primary purpose is far from comic: the epic. We will study selected episodes from the Guillaume cycle (Charroi de Nîmes, Enfances Vivien, Moniage Rainouart), as well as the parodic chansons de geste Pèlerinage de Charlemagne and Audigier.
Our analyses will be guided by concepts of literary theory, primarily drawn from Jean Emelina’s monograph Le comique: essai d’interprétation générale (Paris: SEDES, 1991).
We will apply these concepts to a medieval corpus with the aim of:

• Verifying the existence of timeless mechanisms for identifying laughter;
  
• Understanding and analysing the devices that generate laughter;
  
• Attempting to classify these devices in order to determine what type of laughter is at stake (comedy, irony, parody, etc.).
  

Teaching methods

The course takes the form of lectures with student interaction

Evaluation methods

Oral exam. In addition to showing first-hand knowledge of all required readings, students must demonstrate their ability to analyze a literary text and to frame their approach in a meaningful context that takes into account problems and aspects explored in class.

Online resources

All course materials will be available on MOODLE

Bibliography

Les indications bibliographiques seront disponibles sur MOODLE.

Teaching materials

• L’épopée pour rire, éd. Alain Corbellari, Paris, Champion, 2017 (15 EUR)

Faculty or entity

> ELAL