Oyez! Oyez! This course builds on the premise that the best way to truly encounter medieval texts is to listen to them, since they were usually written to be sung or performed aloud in great halls, churches, or town squares. Traversing a variety of premodern genres from Britain to Palestine - including troubadour song, mystery plays, and heroic quest narratives – this module will tune your ears to the songs of minstrels and mermaids, the cries of mandrakes and fantastic beasts, and the hubbub of battle and daily life. We will combine traditional seminars with music and sound workshops to ask how soundscapes shape medieval encounters with animals and monsters, different religions and cultures, and natural and urban ecologies. Alongside the traditional skill of ‘close reading’, you will learn to listen to modern recordings of medieval texts to consider how ‘close listening’ brings into focus questions about: body and desire, music and song, memory training and emotion, social cohesion and disorder, nature and ecology, cross-cultural entertainment, and the nature of creativity. The course ends in a Medieval Slam! with voluntary presentations on your research into medieval sound. 

• comprehend the multiple and diverse aspects of sound in premodern literature [LO1] 

• perform close analyses of literary and or audio/visual ‘texts’ and draw comparisons between them [LO2] 

• demonstrate an informed understanding of key critical theories from medieval studies and sound studies [LO3] 

• organise sustained and substantiated critical arguments and/or creative(-critical) work about the texts and formulate independent conclusions about them [LO4]

The module will be delivered through a mix of in-person large group and small group sessions supported by, where relevant, Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) resources.

Subject-Specific Skills:  

Students will practisce writing and talking about different elements of premodern literature to recognise areas of critical interest, such as: sound and performance, environment and ecology, rhetoric, characterization, and individual and cultural identity. They will contextualise medieval narrative and theatrical practices and demonstrate an understanding of critical methodologies applied to medieval texts.

Professional & Practical Skills: 

Students will critically analyse and close-read sources and recordings as 'texts’, and assess and engage critically with contemporary scholarly and theoretical questions about evidence and different textual and material forms. They will develop skills working creatively with audio and textual materials. 

Transferable/Employability Skills: 

Students will develop skills to present research, either through presentation, spoken word, or visual means. They will work creatively with evidence and analysis, critique and assess different evidence forms, and combine different ways of approaching a research question or challenge. 

Essay or a creative–critical portfolio accompanied by a critical commentary
100%
3200 words

This module is assessed by one essay, or a creative–critical portfolio accompanied by a critical commentary, amounting to no more than 3200 words, and uses the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Course Guide. Assessment options will be distributed by the module leader. This assessment is an opportunity for students to demonstrate that they can meet the module learning outcomes LO1–4, listed above. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities, and students with hearing disabilities will be invited to explore textual options or audio materials.    

Formative writing consists of a short mid-term ‘close listening’ analysis (300 words), and a sample extract from the final essay or creative project commentary (500 words) to be handed in before the final week of teaching.   

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR REASSESSMENT IN THIS MODULE: 

Opportunity for re-assessment is permitted provided you have not failed more credit than in the threshold set for the repeat rule adopted by your programme.

If you meet the criteria for the repeat rule and the amount of credit you have failed is more than permitted by the relevant resit rule, you will be required to repeat your outstanding credits during the next academic year.

If you meet the criteria for the resit rule, assessments will take place in the Resit Examination period (usually in August), prior to the start of the following academic session.

You will be notified of your eligibility to resit/repeat any modules after the Examining Board in the Summer period.

The indicative syllabus includes a range of topics: 

• Animal soundscapes  

• Pagan and Celtic sounds 

• Noisy drama on stage 

• Song, lyric and crusade 

• Music of the spheres  

• Courtly life, gender, and rumour 

• Racial and religious alterity 

Specific texts will be confirmed prior to the start of the module, but medieval authors studied may include: Marie de France, Hildegard of Bingen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Béroul, and Turold. Guidance will be given for texts read in Middle English; for all other languages, we will read in modern English translation. We will listen to recordings by groups such as the Purcell Consort of Voices, The Dufay Collective, Unicorn Ensemble, Concordian Dawn, and the Chaucer Studio Audio Collection, among others.