ENG 244 - Arthurian Masculinities: Queerness in the Age of Chivalry

Exploration of the Arthurian tradition with special emphasis on the construction and function of masculinity and gender in the world of King Arthur’s court. Readings will be drawn from medieval English and continental Arthurian narratives as well as medieval intellectual culture and contemporary gender theory and queer theory. The course will present medieval writers as dynamically engaged in the interrogation and reshaping of concepts gender in their own times and places. It will likewise investigate our present-day inheritance from the Arthurian tradition, with particular reference to the notions of “courtesy” and “chivalry.”

Satisfies a major requirement in English

Satisfies a major requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies

Satisfies a minor requirement in Gender and Sexuality Studies

Students entering 2012 and after: satisfies Literary Studies, Creative Writing & Rhetoric distribution requirement

Students entering before 2012: satisfies literature distribution requirement