Songs of Love, Death, and Political Turmoil: An Introduction to Medieval French and Occitan Poetry

This class focuses on poetry in Old Occitan and Old French, two transregional languages born in medieval Europe and spoken throughout the Mediterranean. We will explore the aural, visual, and tactile nature of medieval poems, whether sung, declaimed, or read silently. We will reflect on questions of death, politics, gender roles, sexuality, and religious sentiment raised by such texts, while also considering the at times off-putting aesthetic experiences they present to our modern sensibilities. Out-of-class activities will allow us to engage with manuscripts and address the performativity and relevance of medievalism in North America.