Although the 14th century was not a pleasant time (plague, wars, religious and social upheavals – England had it all), Geoffrey Chaucer managed to live through it pretty well, with a successful career as a clerk, courtier and diplomat and – at the same time – becoming the most famous and prolific writer of this time. In his poetry and prose works he covers a wide range of topics, providing an interesting and often critical view of medieval society.
In this block seminar, we will examine the linguistic aspects of Middle English by reading excerpts from Chaucer’s and other contemporary works. In addition to general features such as pronunciation, syntax, grammar, morphology, lexis and phraseology, we will in particular investigate sociolinguistic and pragmatic aspects of Chaucer’s texts and those of his contemporaries in the context of 14th century English society, starting with the Canterbury Tales. Last but not least: reading Chaucer is great fun. His language is humorous, ironic, full of puns and innuendos, not to mention bawdy and full of great imagery.
Examples for research topics are:
- The language of power and politics: Nobles, clerics and businesspeople
- Roles in Middle English: The parent - child and teacher - student dialogue
- Scripted dialogue in the Canterbury Tales
- The art of insulting in Middle English
- Circumventing taboos: Swearing in the Canterbury Tales
- Burghers, priests, villeins and nobles: Chaucer’s description of medieval society
- Chaucer as a fashion critic: 14th century lifestyle statements
- Women in the 14th century: damsel or businesswoman?
- Walking the line: The dangers of religious or political statements
A full list of research topics will be available in the first seminar session. Please note that this is a Linguistics HS. Course requirements are detailed in the respective module descriptions.
Lecturer contact: s.diemer@mx.uni-saarland.de.
Please also note that the forst two sessions of the seminar in December 2020 will take place in virtual format only via MS Teams. |
