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Chaucer’s Books

Key information

  • Module code:

    6AAEC100

  • Level:

    6

  • Semester:

      Autumn

  • Credit value:

    15

Module description

How did Chaucer’s poetry get written, produced, and read in medieval London, and what effect do the answers to these questions have on our interpretation of that poetry? This module combines the study of central interpretative problems—the order of the Canterbury Tales, the identification of ‘his own scribe Adam’, and the attribution of so many random short poems to him, among others—with the opportunity for hands-on engagement with the fifteenth-century manuscripts held in London’s libraries and archives, and with the processes of making a manuscript themselves.

We could easily spend twenty hours debating the interpretive issues, and thus getting to the heart of the questions asked above and more, with just our editions and a few online resources to hand. But: we are in central London. So students in the module will learn first-hand about the material context of Chaucerian manuscript production. In Senate House they will handle (and smell!) a manuscript of Piers Plowman (a poem Chaucer might have known) and a fragment of the famous Auchinleck manuscript (which he might himself have handled). In the London Metropolitan Archives they will consult legal rolls written by a clerk who also copied Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, Piers Plowman, Mandeville’s Travels and much else—and in Lambeth Palace they will see one of that scribe’s literary manuscripts. Other treasures might well reveal themselves as well. Finally they will learn about how scribes made manuscripts by doing it themselves. Hands will get inky. Ancient poetry will come alive and its secrets will be revealed—or made all the more mysterious and thus fascinating. For students in this module Chaucer will never be anything so boring as ‘the Father of English poetry’ again.

 

Assessment details

Coursework

Manuscript/Booklet Production (15%) and 3000 word essay (85%)

Educational aims & objectives

This module aims to enable students to think about Chaucer's poetry in ways quite different from those enabled by a modern edition and more historically attuned to the material circumstances of its production. They will learn about how scribes operated, whether as independent contractors, or clerks in the Guildhall, or associates of the livery companies. They will engage with the interpretive problems that arise only when one attends to the manuscript context of The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. What is the order of the tales? Have scholars identified 'Chaucer's own scribe' as one Adam Pynkhurst, and if so what are the implications? Students will also learn about manuscript production by actually handling medieval manuscripts in the Senate House Library, Lambeth Palace Library, and London Metropolitan Archives, and also by making manuscripts themselves. The aims are to educate students about how much more alive medieval literature is when one attends to and gets involved in its production history, and to alert them to the resources available all around them in London, beyond the confines of a printed student edition.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students will have gained intellectual and practical skills appropriate to a level 6 module and, in particular, will have gained

1. A deep understanding of the Canterbury Tales and other Chaucerian poetry in its manuscript context;

2. Extensive knowledge of the ways in which medieval books were made and circulated in London;

3. A nuanced understanding of the concepts of textuality and the ontology of 'the literary work';

4. Enhanced skills in close reading and in literary-historical analysis;

6. A deeper sense of the relationship between literature and London society and politics;

7. A sense of historical depth and complexity;

8. An ability to formulate complex arguments

Teaching pattern

1 x 2 hour seminar, weekly

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.