TOPIC 43: The Norman conquest

TOPIC 43:

The oral tradition in English Medieval Literature: the Arthurian legend. Geoffrey Chaucer: the Canterbury Tales.

Beatriz Ortín Pérez

Index

1. INTRO

2. ORAL TRADITION IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

2.1. OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

2.2. MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD

3. ORAL TRADITION IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE: THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND

3.1. ORIGIN3.2. MAIN CHARACTERS 3.3. TOPICS

4. GEOFFREY CHAUCER

4.1. Chaucer4.2. FRENCH, ITALIAN & ENGLISH PERIOD 4.3. CANTERBURY TALES

5. DIDACTIC IMPLICATONS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. ORAL TRADITION IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE

OLD ENGLISH

OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE

2. ORAL TRADITION IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE.

MIDDLE ENGLISH

3. ORAL TRADITION IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE: THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND

ORAL TRADITION IN MEDIEVAL LITERATURE: THE ARTHURIAN LEGEND

4. GEOFFREY CHAUCER

GEOFFREY CHAUCER - 14th c

5. DIDACTIC IMPLICATONS

DIDACTIC IMPLICATONS

Italian period – 1372 -1385

Trade agreement > Florence – wonders of the Renaissance > works of Boccaccio, Dante, Petrarch – iambic pentameter. Main work: Troilus and Criseyde / 1382-85/ longest poem/ Adaptation > Boccaccio’s Il filostrato – added details and changed spirit.

OE period (450-1150) – oldest form of language attested

500AD > AS invaders – displaced Roman-Britons / pagan > Christianised papal decree 597 Vigorous oral poetic tradition. Texts – circulated orally/aurally / manuscripts > parchment/copied by hand- expensive and rare – monasteries/high rank people. Rely on memories to transmit these tales orally – poems: celebrate wars, leader and heroes’ deeds + music (harp) = perfect entertainment Bards-Celtic/Scops- Medieval period > paramount role– poems reached audience. Stories: same characters but (as told again and again) > variations and alterations in the telling – new plots. Alliterative verse and heroic diction. Major event OE poetry – heroic themes > Christian themes.

Reason: Historical accounts - identity & continuity - fluctuations AS teachers > help Ss – Communicative competence > linguistic and sociocultural competence History and literature contribute to achievement + foster reading skills. Content of topic – raise awareness proficient in FL

Quotes

Themes 1. The sword of Excalibur and journey to Avalon 2. Camelot 3. Round table 4. Holy grail 5. Avalon

Starts – sometime after the Norman Conquest (1066). William the Conqueror crowned King > AS nobles dispossessed by French-speaking aristocracy. Norman nobles – cultivated taste for continental styles – Romance. Romance ≠romantic lovers’ plot *BUT knights’ quests and adventures (adventure, fiction and fantasy). Classified: Matter of Rome (Greek and Roman mythology) /France (Charlemagne) / Britain (King Arthur). Matter or Arthur > King Arthur and exploits of his knights. Narrative innovation: read more like modern novels and included fantastic material. Older fashions i.e. Heroic literature – fell into disuse.

French period -1358-1372 Held prisoner – military expeditions. Contact French poets and influenced by them. Translation: LE ROMAN DE LA ROSE (Jean de Meun) – profound inspiration for his career/fed artistic spirit. French influence: octosyllabic couplet, elegy, dream allegory structure, digressive tone, and French vision of love.

• The book of the Duchess
• The parliament of foules
• The house of fame
• The legend of good women

These last 3 also have traces of the influence of Italian period

MAIN WORKS OF WRITTEN LITERATURE OE POETRY - Beowulf (7th-10th century) - story known much earlier and transmitted orally until written down. 3,182 verses. Combat: Germanic hero + demons. Background: legendary history + Christian symbolism. OE PROSE- not common – Latin. 8thc > Viking invasions –- left religious houses too fragmented ≠ Scholars with strong Latin skills. King Alfred 9th c – addressed situation – educate people- major project: translation into OD Bede’s Ecclesiastical History (originally Latin)

English period - CANTERBURY TALES 1385-1390

Stood apart from mainstream – new paths for writing. 1386 – collection stories / linked: pilgrimage shrine St Thomas Becket. / Group of pilgrims travelled together. Projected 120 stories: 4 each pilgrim (unfinished: 22). 1st writer – complex literary work in English: story within a story/ weave together rich tapestry of characters and genres / each: own voice and style – each tale is suited to the character of its narrator - overview of society across classes and occupations.

• Depicts – life class, romance, social caste, gender, and morality of medieval society.
• Prologue – descriptions ranks society - three-fold structure of society – to which all characters belong: knighthood, clergy, and ploughmen.
• Narrated by Chaucer-the-pilgrim, a literary character based on the author
• Tales suited to characters: romantic allegory, supernatural stories, and sermons about morality = narrative by turns satiric, tragic, ribald, and comic, varying from tale to tale.
• Deduce Chaucer’s attitude – description of characters – most object to Chaucer’s comic satire.

Importance