This
course will present new insights in our understanding of
Medieval prose texts in Old and Middle Irish and Middle
Welsh. Results of the last couple of decades of philological
analysis of Celtic prose will be presented, with focus on
the problems of dating, elements of oral literature, and
the influences from classical and ecclesiastical sources.
Mutual influences between two Insular Celtic traditions
will also be taken into account, and particular attention
will be paid to the stylistic features and motives that
set the Celtic storytelling apart from the mainstream of
European literature.
Instruction will be on the graduate
level, but undergraduate students of Celtic languages
and/or Medieval studies are also invited to apply. No
knowledge of Medieval Celtic languages will be assumed,
although some familiarity with Latin and/or Old Irish
and Middle Welsh is welcome. The instruction will be
in the form of lectures with powerpoint presentations
and handouts. Lectures will be followed by a round-table
discussion in which participants will be able to ask
questions and discuss issues with all lecturers.
Lecturers:
1. Ranko Matasović, University
of Zagreb
Introduction to Medieval Celtic
Prose (1 hour).
This introductory lecture will give an overview of problems
involved in the interpretation of the Medieval prose
texts in Irish and Welsh. The literary prose of the
Medieval Celtic countries will be placed in the wider
context of Medieval European literature. Criteria
that set the Celtic literary tradition apart from
others will be discussed, as well as the problems
of interpretation specific to Old and Middle Irish
and Middle Welsh texts.
2. Kim McCone, NUI Maynooth
Pagan
and Christian Influence in Early Irish Tales (6 hours)
This series of lectures will
focus on the nature of the debate between the "Nativist" and "Latinist" approaches to Medieval Irish literature, and expand on the topics discussed
in K. McCone's monograph "Pagan Past and Christian Present in Medieval Irish Literature".
3. Ruairí Ó hUiginn, NUI Maynooth
The
Problem of Dating of Medieval Irish Prose (6 hours)
The question of dating texts and related matters will
be addressed in this series of seminars. Following
a general overview of the different linguistic periods
of Irish, dating criteria relating to the various
stages of Old, Middle and Early Modern Irish will
be examined and discussed. This will comprise not
only an examination of linguistic data but also, where
appropriate, the use of non-linguistic criteria. A
number of short excerpts from different texts will
be read with special reference to linguistic features,
style and content. The use of linguistic archaisms
as stylistic devices in prose texts or their use to
fulfil certain metrical requirements in poetical compositions
will also be discussed with reference to relevant
examples. The question of dating some medieval Welsh
material will also be examined. Finally we will examine
a number of edited texts and paying special attention
to the criteria used by their editors in dating them.
4. Hildegard Tristram, University of Freiburg in Bresgau
Imagining the Past – Medieval
Irish and Welsh Tales Between Orality and Literacy (6 hours)
Although they are only preserved in written form in manuscripts
which date from the central or later Middle Ages,
the early Irish and Welsh prose tales look back to
an age in which literature was essentially oral and
passed on only by word of mouth. The depth of narrated
time may in some cases encompass more than a thousand
years, in other cases only a few centuries, in a few
cases even less than a century. These tales were written
down by the monks to be read out aloud (or ‘pre-lected’)
among peer literati or to be performed in front of
live audiences. Thus, they are written in nature,
but orally-derived. Their function was to be orally
delivered. In my six lectures, I will discuss a number
of characteristics relating to the written and the oral
nature of these
narratives, focussing on selected texts such as the Irish
tales of Táin Bó Cuailnge (‘Cattle Raid of Cuailnge’),
Togail Bruidne Dá Derga (‘The Destruction of Dá Derga’s
Hostel’) and Scéla Mucce Meic Dathó (‘Stories about Mac
Dathó’s Pig”) and the Welsh tales of Kulhwch ac Olwen (‘Kulhwch’s Wooing of Olwen’) and the Four Branches of
the Mabinogi (Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan and Math). The
Irish tales are heroic in character and the Welsh ones
are (Arthurian) romances. Pagan mythology lurks behind
all of them.
A Reader will be provided and put on the website a few
weeks before the course so that the students can study
it in advance and come prepared. The lectures will be
illustrated by selected recordings of modern readings
from the texts studied.
5. Stefan
Zimmer, Bonn University
Middle
Welsh Prose (6 hours)
The short lecture series attempts to present the Welsh
prose literature from c. 1050 to c. 1450 in a systematic
way. It will consist of the following units:
1. Introduction
2. Law Texts
2.1 Bryein Teiliau
2.2 Laws of Hywel Dda
3. Narrative Texts
3.1 Culhwch ac Olwen
3.2 Mabinogi
3.2.1 Pwyll Pendeuic Dyuet
3.2.2 Branwen Uerch Llyr
3.2.3 Manawydan Uab Llyr
3.2.4 Math Uab Mathonwy
3.3 Arthurian Romances
3.3.1 Translations of Chansons de geste
3.3.2 Translations of Graal & Perslevaus
stories
3.3.3 Adaptions from Chrestien de Troyes
3.4 Breuddwyd Macsen Wledig
3.5 Chwedleu Saeth Doethon Rufein
3.6 Breuddwyd Rhonabwy
3.7 Cyfranc Lludd a Llefelys
4. Historical Texts
4.1 Brut y Tywysogyon
4.2 Brut y Brenhinedd
4.3 Brut Dingestow
4.4 Ystorya Gruffudd ap Cynan
5. Religious Texts
5.1 Elucidarium
5.2 Didactic texts
5.3 Ymborth yr Enaid
5.3 Scripturial and other texts
6. Hagiography
6.1 Dewi
6.2 Beuno
7. Medical Texts
8. Grammars
9 Conclusion, with references to Early Welsh Poetry and
the Welsh Bible
Applications: all participants should apply by e-mail
to Ranko Matasović (rmatasov@ffzg.hr) by March 31,
2008. Please state your full name, address and affiliation.
The number of participants is limited, so in case
of unexpectedly great interest participants who apply
earlier will be accepted.
Attendance fee: 30 Euros (includes
instruction, course materials, and a guided tour of Dubrovnik)
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