Early Medieval Literature 650–1350
Prelims Paper 2 covers the first seven centuries of English literature, including the very earliest recorded English poetry. Most of the work for this paper will focus on Old English literature (written during the period c. 650–c. 1100), but you will also have the opportunity to look at someearly Middle English literature later in the year. The term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ refers to the time period in English history between Roman Britain and the Norman Conquest, and also to the people and culture; the term ‘Old English’ refers to the language.
You will work on this paper throughout your first year. In the first term you will have language classes and translation assignments to help you learn Old English, and you will do wider reading in translation. As the year progresses, you will learn to work with the texts in the original language. Most of your essays for this paper will be written in the second and third terms. By the end of the year you will be able to write a critical commentary demonstrating your ability to engage in detail with the language and form of Old English poetry, and essays in which you engage with wider thematic and contextual aspects of the literature.
For the Old English period there are four set texts, all poems, which we shall be studying in detail over the course of the year: The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, The Battle of Maldon, and an extract from Beowulf (‘Beowulf’s Fight with Grendel’). The set edition for these texts is Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson, A Guide to Old English: Eighth Edition (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012). You need to purchase a copy of this before the beginning of Michaelmas Term. Your reading on language and grammar in Michaelmas will be from Peter S. Baker, Introduction to Old English: Third Edition (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012). It is possible to read this book online once you have full access to the Oxford library system, but I highly recommend purchasing your own copy.
While our classes will focus on the set texts, it is important that you also read widely in the literature of the period covered and to familiarize yourself with the historical contexts from which it originates. To begin this work, you should read a modern English translation of Beowulf before you arrive in Oxford. There are many published translations, but I highly recommend Beowulf: Second Edition (with facing page translation), ed. and trans. R. M. Liuzza (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 2013), which includes useful information in both the Introduction and the Appendices, and is translated in such a way as to be helpful in finding your place in the original text (unlike a more poetic translation like Heaney’s which is meant to stand alone).
Two further books are particularly recommended as background reading for this paper: Nicholas Higham and Michael Ryan’s The Anglo-Saxon World (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013)provides excellent and detailed information about important historical and cultural background, andHugh Magennis’ The Cambridge Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature (Cambridge: CUP, 2011)is a general introduction to the literature of the period.
Introduction to English Language and Literature
This paper is intended to introduce you to English language and literature as a discipline, and to a variety of approaches to reading texts. There are two parts to Paper 1: Section A (Approaches to Language) is taught in the first term, and Section B (Approaches to Literature) is taught in the second term. Section A, which we will be working for in Michaelmas Term, will introduce you to formal study of the English language, with particular reference to its historical development, its use as a literary medium, and the role of cultural and social factors on its development and use.
The terminology and approaches of the English Language A Level can be a useful foundation for this paper, so if you did not do this A Level you may find it useful to read through a recent textbook or study guide (skipping the section on Child Language Acquisition, which is not covered in this paper). For an accessible introduction to some aspects of the historical and social development of English, please readDavid Crystal’s The Stories of English (London: Penguin, 2005) or The Oxford History of English edited by Lynda Mugglestone (OUP 2012). (You may be able to find these books in your local public library system.)
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