This course will cover a very broad range of texts that in various ways illuminate our understanding of medieval attitudes to language and multilingualism. We cover the whole medieval period in England, from the time of Germanic Old English through the Middle English period when England was a trilingual nation of English, French and Latin. We will consider literary texts, sermons and plays, as well as medieval texts for teaching foreign languages, in order to explore the changing relationships among the languages of England, and to seek to understand medieval conceptions of ‘language’ and ‘languages.’ Texts written in medieval England, but not in English, play a particular role in an understanding of the history of English literature. NB Knowledge of Latin is not required; assistance with medieval French and Old English will be provided. Topics covered will include: 21.02. Medieval conceptions of language 28.02 To speak or not to speak? 07.03 Heretical Language 14.03 Translating languages on the page 21.03 Teaching languages 28.03 Language and power 04.04 Language and liturgy 18.04 Women and Language 25.04 Foreign language speakers in medieval drama 1 02.05 Foreign language speakers in medieval drama 2 09.05 Talking animals 16.05 Miraculous Multilingualism 23.05 Foreigners on the Early Modern stage 1 30.05 Foreigners on the Early Modern stage 2 |