ENGL 385-01, Literature Before Print, spring 2005

Abstract

Early authors like Chaucer, Dante and Malory wrote texts that we read routinely as great classics of literature, but their texts would be virtually unrecognizable to them today. Before the advent of the printing press, books were handmade objects that were read aloud and treasured as works of art and symbols of knowledge. In this course we will look at how early texts survived major transitions in the history of the book and how these transitions may have influenced our own view of them today. We will be focusing on two main cultural events: first, the so-called shift from orality to literacy; and second, the idea of the book itself and the use of print as a mode of literary production. In the process, we will also explore how approaches to early literature illuminate our own ideas about literature, language and forms of knowledge.