The course will focus on a selection of plays, prose and poetry from the late Middle Ages to the early modern—we will read them from a social and cultural point of view, examining how issues of contact and conflict are represented in the literature of the time. Our main topic in the course will be border crossing—we will interrogate how it provoked narratives of joy and fear, hopes and anxieties regarding ethnic, religious and national identity, empire building and otherness. As we read about strangers outside the realm, we will also attend to strangers within the realm. Readings will draw from Mandeville’s The Travels, the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Croxton Play of the Sacrament, Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Othello and The Tempest, and William Daborne’s A Christian Turned Turk. The Middle English texts will be read in modern English. Requirements: regular attendance, participation, a group presentation, a series of quizzes and a term paper (8-10 pages long)

Texts:

• The Merchant of Venice. Arden.
• Othello. Arden.
• The Tempest. Arden.
• A Course Pack.