EN4320 Old English Literature and the East

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Not automatically available to General Degree students.

Planned timetable

Friday 9.00-11.00am

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr C Rauer

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Christine Rauer

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

An exploration of how the East is imagined and described in a wide range of Old English prose and poetry. Among topics covered will be the major points of contact between East and West in the early Middle Ages: Christian, Germanic and Islamic mythology and cosmology, conflict between human beings and monsters, the origin of ethnic groups, and examples of exile. Geographies studied will include Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, the Holy Land, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and India, using literature like saints' lives (on desert saints), travel accounts (by Ohthere and Ibn Fadlan), global zoology and anthropology (the Wonder of the East, the Liber monstrorum), and military and tribal historiography (Alexander the Great). Old English materials will be read in the original language; additional texts written in Latin, Arabic and Old Norse will be studied in translation.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS EN2003 AND PASS EN2004

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 50% Written Exam = 50%

Re-assessment

Written Exam = 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

A 2-hour weekly seminar (x 11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

22

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

278

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • 1. Acquire a good knowledge and critical awareness of a range of early medieval attitudes towards Eastern cultures.
  • 2. Deepen their knowledge of Old English language, and cope more confidently with texts in early English and difficult linguistic formats.
  • 3. Develop self-awareness in reacting to culturally, historically and spiritually alien materials in a tolerant and knowledgeable way.
  • 4. Recognise modern preoccupations with intercultural relations in the written output of earlier generations and understand the timelessness of such topics.