This class is an introduction to the work of the most influential literary figure of the English Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer, and it focuses on his major work, the Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories presented as tales told by different tellers. Through this structure, the Canterbury Tales explores how stories create and sustain communities, how they can be used to challenge established social identities, and how and why some kinds of stories are valued or devalued. They do this through narratives that take up questions about friendship, family, sex, politics, religion, and more. Above all, they explore the way that stories always belong, in some way, to someone other than the teller: to earlier or geographically distant cultures, to enthusiastic and critical audiences, as well as to the ‘future’ (a word that Chaucer introduced to the English language). We’ll end the course by considering some of the Canterbury Tale’s own futures in modern works that think about what stories can do and what it means to tell someone else’s story: Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale, Gloria Naylor, Bailey’s Café, and Refugee Tales, a collection of stories about refugees detained in Britain written by various contemporary writers.

Course Requirements:

Requirements include three presentations, two short papers (5 pp), and a final paper (10 pp).

Intended Audience:

Online-only students are welcome!

Class Format:

Exams:Asynchronous and Online

Lectures: Synchronous/Asynchronous and Online/In-Person

Class Discussions: Synchronous/Asynchronous and Online/In-Person