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Medieval Literature: Dreams and Debates - ENGL204

This unit examines the imaginative content and literary style of key early texts in the English literary tradition. It focuses on the use of two different modes – the dream vision and the reasoned debate – to create imaginary worlds and to present logical argument. Students are encouraged to analyse the multiple levels of meaning in a wide range of early texts from the Anglo-Saxon period to Chaucer and his contemporaries. We consider the impact on meaning of both the medieval context of composition and also the later critical reception of individual works. Discussion includes not only the content and narrative techniques of these texts but also their rhetorical and aesthetic qualities, wit, and cross-cultural intelligibility.

Credit Points: 3
When Offered:

S1 Day - Session 1, North Ryde, Day

Staff Contact(s): Professor Louise D'Arcens
Prerequisites:

ENGL120 Prerequisite Information

Corequisites:

NCCW(s): ENGL265, ENGL267
Unit Designation(s):
Unit Type:
Assessed As: Graded
Offered By:

Department of English

Faculty of Arts

Course structures, including unit offerings, are subject to change.
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