Unit information: Early Modern Europe and the Literary Imagination (Level I Special Field) in 2009/10

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Unit name Early Modern Europe and the Literary Imagination (Level I Special Field)
Unit code HIST26023
Credit points 20
Level of study I/5
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director Dr. Cervantes
Open unit status Not open
Pre-requisites

None
Co-requisites

None
School/department Department of History (Historical Studies)
Faculty Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The early modern period saw the rise of a number of great literary figures that are still widely read and enjoyed nowadays. In the English speaking world, Shakespeare is often regarded as the greatest writer of all times; elsewhere he is often rivalled by his Spanish contemporary, Miguel de Cervantes. Both writers seem to have been influenced by their French contemporary, Michel de Montaigne. This unit will give you the opportunity to use a selection of the works of these three writers as historical sources that shed light upon major themes in early modern intellectual history. Among these are Humanism and its reception; the early modern notion of the self; shifts in the early modern understanding of knowledge; the relationship between language and reality; the discovery of America; and the impact of the Protestant Reformation on European thought.

Aims:

  • To place students in direct contact with the current research interests of the academic tutor
  • To enable students to explore the issues surrounding the use of literary works in early modern intellectual history
  • To develop students ability to work with primary sources
  • To develop students abilities to integrate primary source material into a wider historical analysis
  • To develop students ability to learn independently within a small-group context.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit students should have:

  • deepened their understanding of a early modern intellectual history
  • become more experienced and competent in working with a widening range of primary sources
  • become more adept at contributing to and learning from a small-group environment.

Teaching Information

  • Weekly 2-hour seminar
  • Tutorial feedback on essay
  • Access to tutorial consultation with unit tutor in office hours

Assessment Information

1 x 2 hour exam

Reading and References

  • Erich Auerbach, Mimesis (1948), chs. 12, 13, 14.
  • William Bouwsma, The Waning of the Renaissance (2000).
  • Stuart Clark, Vanities of the Eye (2007).
  • Diarmaid MacCulloch, Reformation: Europes House Divided (2003).
  • A. D. Nuttall, Shakespeare the Thinker (2007).
  • Jeremy Robbins, The Challenges of Uncertainty (1998)

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