Comprehending Nature in the Middle Ages - MST00092M

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Module summary

What we define as ‘nature’ is the result of processes of cultural elaboration and exchange. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the idea itself of nature was constructed at different times. Literature plays a decisive role in formulating the relationship between humans, the environment, and the cosmos. It is both the place in which ideas about this relationship is negotiated and a space in which this negotiation can be represented. Literature has thus contributed fundamentally to the creation of notions of environmental spaces, of the human/animal divide, or the cultural/natural dichotomy.

This module investigates the development of representations of nature in the interconnected medieval literatures of the Mediterranean, including texts from Europe as well as the Middle East. The module explores how humans wrote about their interactions with their physical environment and represented the cosmos and positioned themselves in it. These notions defined the boundaries between the human and the natural as well as the natural and the supernatural in Medieval cultures.

This module will build on the new literary field of ecocriticism, but it will incorporate reflections on how the relationships between humans, animals, and landscapes are influenced by various economic, technological, and cultural factors. In the Middle Ages, the environment could be understood as a danger, but also as a resource or cultural space. People were very aware of the human potential to reshape their environment according to their interests.

This module will help understand the complex perceptions and interactions between humankind and nature in the Middle Ages in their literary representations. The course material will introduce these texts and their contexts, and no preliminary knowledge of medieval languages is required: all texts will be read in Middle or Modern English.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2023-24

Module aims

The module aims to understand how medieval literatures play a decisive role in formulating the relationship between humans, the environment, and the cosmos. The module will do so also showing how it is necessary to look at literatures that connected across the Mediterranean area in the Middle Ages (Western European, Byzantine, Arabic and Hebrew Literatures and others) in their reciprocal connection.

Module learning outcomes

On successful completion of the module, you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with medieval literatures and their different constructions of nature
2. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of and engagement with medieval texts as well as gaining close reading skills
3. Evaluate key debates within the relevant critical fields dealing with literary representations of nature

Produce independent arguments and ideas which demonstrate an advanced proficiency in critical thinking, research, and writing skills.

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	100

Module feedback

Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay of up to 2,000 words and receive written or oral feedback, as appropriate, from a tutor. For the summative essay (3500-4000 words), students will receive their provisional mark and written feedback in line with the University's turnaround policy. The tutor will then be available during student hours for follow-up guidance if required.

Indicative reading

Main texts for the module:

1) Augustine, Confessions
2) Augustine, City of God
3) Felix, Life of Saint Guthlac
4) Beowulf
5) Brethren of Purity, The case of the animals versus man before the King of the Jinn
6) Physiologus
7) The Secret of Secrets
8) Bernardus Silvestris, Cosmographia
9) Saint Francis, The Canticle of the Sun
10) Thomas of Celano, The lives of S. Francis of Assisi
11) The little flowers of st. Francis of Assisi
12) Frederick II, The art of falconry (De arte venandi cum avibus)