• Dutton Elisabeth

• Dutton Elisabeth

The Bible is unquestionably the most important text in English literature before the twentieth century: is influence on the development both of English literary forms and the English language is vast.  In medieval England, anyone learning to read would study scriptural words first.  In pre-Conquest England, King Alfred promoted translation of biblical texts into the English vernacular, and English translations proliferated in late-medieval England.  The pre-Reformation Church’s efforts to repress vernacular scriptures were unsuccessful and the translation of Tyndale, for instance, had huge influence on the ‘Authorised’ or ‘King James’ Bible which is still culturally revered in England today. For many medieval writers, scripture was a source not only of teaching but also of narrative – the Bible is full of good stories.  How and why were these stories retold by poets and dramatists?  This course will consider texts and images which reveal the role of the Bible in the medieval imagination. 

Weekly schedule:

20.09 – Four evangelists, fathers of the church, levels of exegesis

27.09 – In the beginning: Creation

04.10 – The Fall of Man

11.10 – Jonah and the Whale

18.10 – Exodus

25.10 – Judith

01.11 – NO CLASSES – ALL SAINTS

08.11 – David and the Psalms

15.11 – NO CLASSES – DIES ACADEMICUS

22.11 – The Song of Songs

29.11 – The Passion

06.12 – The Bible in English from Wycliffe to Tyndale

13.12 – The Renaissance Bible

20.12 – EXAM

• Knowledge of the different genres of scriptural writing
• Familiarity with the content of selected examples of scriptural translation in Old English and Middle English
• Appreciation of the role of visual arts in understanding the medieval Bible
• Appreciation of the issues of authority and censorship around scriptural translation
• Basic knowledge of the levels of scriptural exegesis
• Familiarity with the scriptural narratives most fundamental to English literature
• Increased familiarity with late Middle English and early Modern English language