EN121/EN2J5/EN3J5 Medieval and Early Modern Literature
Convenors: Dr Sarah WoodLink opens in a new window (term 1) Dr Natalya Din-KariukiLink opens in a new window (term 2)
Module information
This module will study a number of works of medieval and early modern literature in the context of contemporary beliefs and historical and social developments. The module will be taught by means of lectures on the historical, cultural and critical context; seminars to discuss particular texts; and (in weeks 2-5 of term 1 only) supplementary classes to help develop your skills in reading texts written in earlier forms of English.
Works studied include: The Canterbury Tales; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; The Book of Margery Kempe; travel writing; poems by Sidney, Spenser, and Mary Wroth; and medieval and early modern drama.
All materials for the module will be supplied on or linked from these webpages. Please use the tabs above or the links below for further information.
- Course outline
- Lecture list
- Materials to support your Middle English Reading ClassesLink opens in a new window.
- The Reading List (to which you will have access when enrolled as a student) sets out the required primary readings for each week of the module, together with recommended further reading from which you may make a selection depending on your interests. Please see the link on the right of this page to access the Reading List. See the box below for more information about suggested summer reading and the books that you will need to buy.
- Resources for studyLink opens in a new window, including guidance on beginning independent research.
- Information about assessments.
Books to buy for 2022-23 academic year
IMPORTANT NOTE: retailers may take a couple of weeks to order these books for you. You are strongly advised to place your orders well in advance.
- The Norton Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales, ed. by David Lawton (Norton, 2019) OR The Canterbury Tales: Seventeen Tales and The General Prologue, ed. V. A. Kolve and Glending Olson, 3rd edition (Norton, 2018) OR The Riverside Chaucer, ed. L. D. Benson, 3rd edition (OUP, 2008). Please ensure that you acquire ONE of these three editions for your study of The Canterbury Tales in term 1, weeks 1-5.
- The Poems of The Pearl Manuscript: Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. by M. Andrew and R. Waldron (Liverpool: Exeter Medieval Texts, 2007), ISBN978-0-859-89790-7 OR The Works of the Gawain Poet: Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. by Ad Putter and Myra Stokes (Penguin, 2014). You will need this book for term 1, weeks 7-8.
**IMPORTANT NOTE: please ensure that you do NOT purchase The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript in Modern English Prose Translation by Andrew and Waldron, as this version does not include the original Middle English text that we will be studying.**
- The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume B: The Sixteenth Century The Early Seventeenth Century, ed. by Stephen Greenblatt et al, 10th edition (2018) ISBN 9780393603033. You will need this book for your work in term 2.
- Other primary texts for the module will be provided in digital formats.
How to obtain books
For information about buying books at Warwick see here: https://warwick.ac.uk/services/retail/shops/booksgiftsLink opens in a new window
Secondhand copies are widely available from sources such Abebooks.co.uk if you wish to reduce costs.
Pre-owned copies of set books may also be available free of charge from the English department for students who may struggle to buy books. For an up to date list of books available, please email our Widening Participation Officer, charlotte.pearce@warwick.ac.uk.
Warwick's student literature society facilitates students who wish to buy and sell secondhand books on campus; for information see their Facebook pageLink opens in a new window.
Suggested summer background reading
- For an introduction to the literature of the medieval period, our focus in term 1, we recommend that you read J.A. Burrow, Medieval Writers and their Work, 2nd edn (Oxford, 2008). For an overview of historical and social developments, please see Maurice Keen, English Society in the Later Middle Ages 1348-1500 (Penguin, 1990).
- For a taste of some of the texts we'll be studying, you might like to read the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, which we'll be studying in the first half of term 1. You can find it in any of the editions of Chaucer recommended in the 'Books to Buy' section of the module webpage, or with an interlinear modern English translation on the Harvard Geoffrey Chaucer websiteLink opens in a new window. Or you could try Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in a modern English translation. We'll be studying this poem in its original language in the second half of term 1, but you can access a modern English translation alongside the original text in The Poems of The Pearl Manuscript: Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, ed. by M. Andrew and R. Waldron (Liverpool: Exeter Medieval Texts, 2007), ISBN978-0-859-89790-7.
Reading list 2022-23Link opens in a new window
The reading list provides details of the required reading from the primary texts for each week, as well as recommended further reading. You are expected to select relevant secondary sources from this list when researching your essays.
Please see the 'Books to Buy' box for details of the books you will need to acquire for this module.
Information for students interested in taking this module in 2023-24
Please click here Link opens in a new windowfor further information about this module for 2023-24.