Universität Wien

123042 PS Literary Studies / Proseminar Literature (2019S)

Early-modern Warrior Queens

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 25 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

Tuesday 19.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 26.03. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 02.04. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 09.04. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 30.04. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 07.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 14.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 21.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 28.05. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 04.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 18.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
Tuesday 25.06. 14:00 - 16:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Early-modern literature and culture was greatly interested in tales of Amazons, all-female warrior tribes. According to the myths of classical antiquity, they were to be found in the far East, or in Africa, or the equally strange North—in any case, at the end of the world. Little wonder, then, that early-modern sailors encountered them again in the Americas, or so they claimed. At home, early-modern English society tried to make sense of its own barbarous past, in the myth of Boudica, and the challenges to patriarchal ideology posed by a confident female monarch: Queen Elizabeth I fashioned herself as virgin queen and mother-wife of her nation, and as a virago free from feminine defects but certainly not an uncivilised Amazon. In early-modern English society female agency and power were limited. The warrior queen, as a literary character, was an important site for the negotiation of gender roles, appropriated by misogynist and proto-feminist discourses alike. This course will look at representations of warrior queens in works ranging from late Elizabethan to Restoration.

This course will familiarise students with key techniques of academic research and text production. Participants will learn to critically analyse literary works, taking into account historical context and using appropriate theoretical concepts, and they will plan a research project resulting in a short final paper.

Assessment and permitted materials

regular attendance / regular preparation of assigned reading material / active participation in class / acting as specialist (team) for one lesson, producing a handout for this lesson, and taking part in a preparation talk one week prior to the specialist session / submitting two written assignments during term (literature review and research proposal) / submitting a final paper / students must own and bring to class hard copies of the assigned reading (books + reader, see below)

NB: This course is accompanied by writing assistants – Schreibassistenz by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Students are required to complete an individual feedback session with a writing assistant once during term. Additionally, students will first hand in each of their two written assignments with the writing assistants and will receive feedback on their work. After having re-worked them, they will then officially submit their assignments. Further details to be announced in class.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Active participation: 5%
Written assignment 1 - literature review (600 words): 10%
Written assignment 2 - research proposal (300 words): 10%
Specialist session and handout: 15%
Final paper (3500 words): 60%

Points must be collected in all of these categories. Students must attain at least 60% to pass this course.

Marking as follows:
1 (very good): 90-100%
2 (good): 80-89%
3 (satisfactory): 70-79%
4 (pass): 60-69%
5 (fail): 0-59%

Both written assignments, the handout, and the final paper must adhere to the current department style sheet. The final paper, accompanied by an anti-plagiarism statement, must be handed in as PDF via email.

No more than two lessons may be missed without medical statement. Missing more than three lessons will result in failing the class; missing the first lesson will result in de-registration from the course. Please bear in mind: Completion of the writing assistance program (two feedback rounds and a personal feedback session) is not optional but required for an overall positive grade.

Examination topics

There will be no written exam.

Reading list

Spenser, Edmund. Faerie Queene (1590/ 1596) [excerpts]

Sidney, Philip. The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1590) [excerpts]

Shakespeare, William. Henry VI trilogy (approx. 1591) [excerpts]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (approx. 1595)

Fletcher, John and Philip Massinger. The Sea Voyage (approx. 1622)

Cavendish, Margaret. Bell in Campo (1662)
The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World (1666)

Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko: or, the Royal Slave (1688)

Additional material will be uploaded on Moodle during the semester. Excerpts of longer primary texts and important secondary literature will be provided in a reader available from Facultas am Campus (Altes AKH square 1), where the following works have also been ordered for you:

  • Behn, Aphra. Oroonoko, The Rover and Other Works. Ed. Todd. ISBN 9780140433388

  • Cavendish, Margaret. A Description of the Blazing World. Ed. Mendelson. ISBN 9781554812424

  • Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night's Dream. Ed. Chaudhuri. ISBN 9781408133491


Association in the course directory

Studium: UF 344, BA 612; BEd 046 / 407
Code/Modul: UF 3.3.3-304, BA10.1; BEd 08a.1, BEd 08b.2
Lehrinhalt: 12-3041

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:33