I. 2:15 to
2:25 Syllabus logo
A. ÒmasterworksÓ ÒBritish LiteratureÓ Òdatur vacuumÓ
1.
Do stuff because it was done to and for you; the operation
of tradition; somebody else chose it; seems reasonable just keep going;
distribution requirement
2.
Incomprehensibility
B. The canon--stability
C. my return; I read and studied this material as a freshman at
Columbia in 1959 and reread much as upperclassman and grad student and
instructor ever since
D. The old vs. the new
E. Ancients and Moderns
F. thrill of doing it again; new and richer
G. Google these works to see the immense body of knowledge and
creativity that theyÕve inspired and continue to inspire—artists and
poets as well as scholars and critics and just educated people reading and
responding
II. 2:25
to 3:10 Procedures
A. Book
1.
alternate formats and mediaÉms. vs. print vs. electronic
2.
the classicism of the Norton and its editors and its format
3.
canÕt access old lecture notes because of lack of
continuity in modern digital technology; rediscovery of lost past is the story
of early modernity—renaissance and reformation
B. Quizzes—Buy 6 little scantrons today; keep with you
C. Projects
1.
Suggestions
2.
Samples
3.
Signups
D. Responses to projects
E. Take-home exam
F. Paradigm
1.
Plot
a)
Beginning,
middle and end—shape to events
(1)
Not experienced in process, but anticipated and remembered
2.
Plot of the course as story--Readings and overview of the
periods: Beowulf to Blake: medieval, renaissance [early modern], enlightenment
3.
Characters—weÕll be understanding and then looking at
them as index and paradigm
a)
Beowulf
Grendel ChaucerÕs Narrator, Wife of Bath,
and authors: Elizabeth, Donne, Bacon, Milton, Swift, Blake
4.
Themes
a)
Heroism
and courage
b)
Sex
and love
c)
Gender
d)
Youth
and age
e)
Death
f)
Rebellion
and obedience; freedom and restraint
g)
Good
and evil
h)
Knowledge
and education
i)
Faith
and scepticism
j)
Society
(1)
Justice
(2)
Class and status
(3)
Wealth and Poverty
(a) greed and generosity
5.
Settings
a)
Heorot,
the underwater, underground cave, the pastoral landscape of Lanval
6.
Language
a)
Verse
and prose; sound reflecting sense; style
III. Beowulf
A. 3:10--3:35 Introduction
1.
Appropriate for an original on the edge of existence--
First Masterpiece of English Literature, emerging from the mist like a Viking
ship approaching shore from a boundless unknown ocean
2.
Its neither written in English, not takes place in England,
but rather in present day Denmark and Sweden
a)
Precursor
of English—Anglo Saxon/Northern tribes that invaded England and dominated
it at the time it was probably written down in the form we have it
b)
A
language incomprehensible to us without extensive study—Ph.D; contrast to
ChaucerÕs middle English
(1)
More about that later
3.
Its stories and characters buried in obscurity of an
ancient past where historical fact and legend are intertwined; or interlaced
a)
Full
of names and genealogies and places and battles and tribal, national groups
that we have other texts and references and descriptions of armor and weaponry
and ships that we have physical evidence to confirm
(1)
In that sense the poem provides rich insight into the way of
life and culture of the time
(2)
the ship of the opening funeral—funereal customs begin
and end the work—characterizing the bleak and solemn tone of its warrior
culture—loving description lines 26-57 and 3136 ff.
(3)
Sutton Hoo—an alternate custom—the excavations
from same time and similar ones in Vendel where poem ends
(4)
the Mead Hall where much of the action takes place—the
construction and power of human artifice contrasted to these deaths—64ff
construction of Heorot—cf image
b)
Also
of impossible creatures—fire breathing dragon and demons living under
buried lakes—and impossible deeds—undersea battles with sea
monsters—that are undoubtedly mythical and fantastic
4.
The origins of the poem we read are equally obscure and
foggy—the topic of unending scholarly debate
a)
Events
reported and people involved; time of the story is 6-7 century C.E.
b)
Written
down later?—period of introduction of Xty into the region
c)
Other
works in Anglo-Saxon language; the Wanderer (p. 111) and The Seafarer
(translated and read by Ezra Pound)
(1)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbuvbf_ezra-pound-the-seafarer_creation
d)
Was
there an oral tradition that a
single writer finalized? When did
that happen—7th century or 11th century, the date
of the ms. Were there sources and
analogues; how much Biblical and classical influence? Vergil? The Odyssey Iliad—like Homer a primary epic;
formulas; pessimistic, heroic ethos
(1)
Internal evidence—
(a) The bard and harp; the poet line 88
and 868
e)
Christian
or pagan?
5.
Artifact and its history halfway between real and
non-existent—Provenance
a)
Lost
and dug up, like the Sutton Hoo hoard and the treasure hoard of the dragon; may
be lost again
b)
Single
ms. 11th century—turns up in collection of 16th
century scholar and then Cotton a 17th c. scholar in a great house;
c)
The
manuscript was badly damaged by fire in 1731, and its charred edges crumbled
over time, losing words on the outer margins of the leaves. Finally, each leaf
was carefully pasted into a frame to stop this process. Of course the frames
and the paste holding them in place obliterated a little more of the text!
Fortunately, many of the lost words were recovered from a copy made by an
Icelandic scholar in 1786 before the manuscript deteriorated.
6.
The vitality and currency of the poem
a)
Tolkien
(1)
Shift of emphasis from historical to literary was provided
by JRR Tolkien in 1936 essay, Òthe monsters and the critics.Ó Tolkien was
Oxford Anglo Saxon scholar, but inspired by content and style of Beowulf and
other works like it that he studied, he started earlier but completed Hobbit in
1937.
(2)
ÒThe novel draws on Tolkien's knowledge of northern European
historical literature, myth and languages.[63]
The names of Gandalf and all but one of the thirteen dwarves were taken
directly from the poem Všlusp‡
of the Poetic Edda.[69]
Several of the author's illustrations (including the dwarven map, the
frontispiece and the dust jacket) make use of Anglo-Saxon runes.Ó
(3)
IÕm just about finished reading it to two of my grandsons;
it was a great inspiration to many adventuring hippies in the 1960Õs. Movie to
appear in December; commercials are flooding TV
(4)
Afterward wrote Lord of the Rings as sequels
b)
Beowulf movie (s)
(1)
Appropriate use of representation midway between cartoon and
film
(2)
Fantasy elaboration of plot and character; typical of traditional
treatment of epic
c)
Hobbit
and Beowulf movies and other treatments are the kinds of things to focus on in
your projects—either study and interpret the relations between original
and knock-off, or produce your own knock off.—see suggestions
B. 3:35-3:50 Hearing the poem
2.
Performance of original by Ben Bagby
5.
Accentual rhythm; caesura; alliteration; kennings
6.
break up into strophes to discuss ideas and sounds