EL 202: Renaissance Bodies:
A Poetics of Pleasure, Pain
Combining the terms “renaissance” and “bodies” allow us to explore a variety of ways in which material bodies became the focus of literary attention between the 14th and17th centuries. From the rituals of the court to the backstreets of growing cities, bodies were performed and represented in increasingly ceremonial and grotesque manners. In this course, our goal will be to trace the key political, religious, cultural and literary transformations of the body in the early modern English world, while paying close attention to continuities with medieval and broader European traditions. Throughout, we will place our literary texts in conversation with different genres of prose writing and examples of visual culture.
Important changes to the course due to CO-VID 19 pandemic
Due to CO-VID 19, the course has moved to moodle.boun.edu.tr, as well as slack.com and zoom.us. I will still update this site with readings and other information, but assignments, lectures, and course details will be available on moodle.boun.edu.tr, as well as slack.com and zoom.us.
Course information
Office Hours: by appointment only
UPDATED UNIVERSITY REQUIREMENTS (CO-VID19)
Background Information
Timeline of the Long 16th Century (New)
Notes to Lyric Poetry Astrophel & Stella (Sonnets I & CVIII)
Idioms Form
Former Student Responses
Elizabeth I (1533/58-1603): David Starkley's Video Biography