Department of German and Dutch
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Paper Du 2
The Medieval and Sixteenth-century Literature and History of the Low Countries, c. 1170 to c. 1585
The paper encompasses two rich and formative periods in Low Countries culture, the medieval and the early renaissance period.
The pre-courtly and courtly epics and romances written in Middle Dutch dialects and using classical, Carolingian or Arthurian narrative material, all show a marked concern with educating their audiences. The educational programme is varied: the obligations of rank and status, the relationship of the individual with its community and with God, the interactions of men amongst each other and those between men and women, are all prominent. More practical educational guidance is proffered too: how to behave at court, on the battlefield, towards the enemy, with social inferiors, how to please women.
Studying the chivalric literature of the Low Countries will help to understand how the collection of barely connected provinces and fiefdoms grew into a culturally distinctive area with a strong urban character.
The literature of the Low Countries shares the traditions of other European countries, especially of France. Many of the same titles and names appear but there are also a number of texts that are not translations or close adaptations of French models but independent narratives linked loosely with, for instance, the classical, Carolingian, Alexandrian or Arthurian cycles. In the Paper the focus is on some of these 'independent' texts which will be set in the context of their narrative cycles and of the culture of the Low Countries.
In the fourteenth century we see an increasing focus on the experience of individuals in their relationships to the opposite gender and in their relationship with the divine. Many texts concentrate on the conflicting demands of human relationships and obedience to God. Here too we encounter many links between the literary culture of the Low Countries and classical and later European cultures and the works chosen will enable students to study the texts in the particular setting of the increasingly urbanized provinces and as part of the common classical and medieval European heritage.
The study of the fifteenth century will put Burgundian culture into context. Much attention will be given to the manner in which the Burgundian dukes managed to form the disparate provinces into a more or less coherent 'nation' and civilization and how, under the determined imperial rule of the Habsburgs, they came to be politically, religiously and culturally deconstructed, leading to the eventual split, in the late sixteenth century, into the Spanish Netherlands in the south and the Republic in the north.
Burgundian politics were vital in the shaping of the later Low Countries and had an impact in the wider political arena in Europe as well. The study of Reformation and Revolt will enable students to set the Low Countries in the context of the Habsburg Empire and its impact in Europe as well as elucidate the particular religious and political factors that led eventually to the formation of the Dutch Republic and its Golden Age. In this respect DU2 forms an excellent companion paper with DU4 which encompasses the late sixteenth century and the Golden Age.
The late fifteenth and sixteenth century literature of the Low Countries shows a phenomenon which is its most distinctive feature: the culture of the Chambers of Rhetoric, amateur drama and poetry societies. They became an integral part of the civic and religious processional and dramatic culture and in the sixteenth century involved themselves heavily in the religious debates. They performed their plays publicly and thus reached a variety of spectators though they also wrote and performed for competitions where their skills were judged by connoisseurs. Their function of educators of their members (chiefly young men) is presently a focus of research as is their role as entertainers and educators of the wider community. They produced a great number of plays in varied genres and through them it is possible to form a picture of the concerns of their society.
Topics
- Chivalric literature: ideals and political objectives
- The formation of the Burgundian Netherlands
- The literature of love: the human condition and the purposes of God
- Urban literature: playing for the community
- Reformation and Revolt
Preliminary reading
J.C.H. Blom and E. Lamberts (eds.), History of the Low Countries (New York/Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1998)
Graham Darby (ed.), The Origins and Development of the Dutch Revolt (London/New York: Routledge, 2001)
Jonathan Israel, The Dutch Republic, its Rise, Greatness and Fall (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995)
Erik Kooper (ed.) Medieval Dutch Literature in its European Context (Cambridge UP, 1994)
Primary texts (in chronological order)*
H. van Veldeke, Eneide
Karel ende Elegast
Jacob van Maerlant, Alexanders geesten
Tprieel van Troyen
De Roman van Walewein
De Roman van Ferguut
De Roman van Moriaen
Beatrijs
De borchgravinne van Vergi
Abele spelen
Hue Mars and Venus tsaemen bueleerden
Pyramus ende Thisbe
Die becooringe des duvels hoe hi Christus becoorde
Van Eneas en Dido
*Various editions of all these texts are available in the University Library and the MML Faculty Library.
Secondary Reading
(see separate list)
Teaching
This course will consist of eight lectures per Term in Michaelmas and Lent and two seminars in the Easter Term. There will be fortnightly supervisions in all three terms.
Michaelmas Term
- Weeks 1 to 4: Chivalric literature, chivalric ideals and political objectives
- Weeks 5 and 6: The literature of love
- Weeks 7 and 8: The formation of the Burgundian Netherlands
Lent Term
- Weeks 1-4: Urban literature
- Weeks 5-8: Reformation and Revolt
Easter Term
- Weeks 1 and 2: Seminars (2 hours each): students offer brief talks on topics which they found most interesting and/or difficult.
Examination
Candidates will sit a three-hour written examination paper and will be asked to answer any three questions.
