“Reading Old French”
Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar
17-20 July 2023 • Remote
The Summer Skills Seminar, “ Reading Old French” will be held via Zoom from Monday, 17 July to Thursday, 20 July 2023 from 10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm MDT.
Registered Participants enter here.
Course overview
Old French emerged, as of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as a particularly important European vernacular. Texts in dialects of Old French were produced not only in the northern two thirds of present-day France but also in England, Italy, the Holy Land, and elsewhere. Many of the texts and genres associated with Old French left major marks on medieval European culture, as evidenced by the diffusion of manuscripts, translations, allusions, excerptions, and so forth. The influence of Old French texts spilled, that is, beyond national and linguistic borders—and even far beyond the Middle Ages.
For instance, the bloody Chanson de Roland, the most studied chanson de geste, raises enormous questions about medieval warrior culture and religious difference. In a quite different vein, the trouvères, who were inspired by the Occitan-language troubadours, composed love lyrics that interrogate the nature of love, desire, and the subject. Old French is perhaps best-known as the language of chivalric romance. Initially writing in verse, romancers found their inspiration in ancient Roman works and the captivating love stories of the matière de Bretagne. The greatest monuments of verse romance include the dramatic, illicit Tristan material and the crafty, slippery Arthurian fictions of Chrétien de Troyes. Later, romance largely migrated into prose, where vast cycles testify to the persistent fascination with, in particular, Arthurian literature. Alongside these more studied genres, there is a large, vibrant, twisted and fascinating hagiographic tradition. There are (potentially) less “courtly” texts, too, such as the naughty, scabrous fabliaux. There are, moreover, influential historical compendiums, as well as didactic and more technical texts. And, of course, there are documents of all sorts: letters, charters, and so forth.
This seminar proposes a hands-on introduction (or refresher) to reading medieval French. We will look at literary works associated with a wide variety of genres, as well as some non-literary documents; texts ranging from the first texts written in French (ninth century) through the late Middle Ages; texts written in different dialects of langue d’oïl; and texts from across Europe and the Mediterranean basin. Some attention will be paid, too, to looking at texts in their manuscript contexts.
The goal is to provide participants with a solid foundation for reading and understanding the manuscripts and texts produced in dialects of Old French. This course will not only further their own research but also provide them with a bona fide (in the form of a certificate of completion for those who attend the full seminar), which may be advantageous in securing grants or other funding for research and travel. The ability to do research with primary sources is a skill relatively few doctoral students master, and it enhances the research profile and CV of academic job-seekers.
This Summer Skills Seminar builds on the experience of earlier editions, which participants signaled as “transformative” in terms of their research, and which provided them with an opportunity to network and lay the foundations for future collaborations. Please click below for information and participant reviews of our former Skills Seminars.
Faculty
The course will be conducted by Prof. Charlie Samuelson (Dept. of French and Italian, University of Colorado Boulder), a specialist of medieval French literature. His research uses close textual analysis and looks to both medieval learned culture and modern theory to take to task entrenched notions about the gender and sexual politics of medieval texts. His monograph, Courtly and Queer: Deconstruction, Desire, and Medieval French Literature appeared in 2022 with the Ohio State University Press. He is currently working on a new project about representations of sexual consent in medieval French literature and culture.
Fees
$1000 for Full Professors, Librarians, Professionals, Independent Scholars;
$750 for tenured Associates;
$500 for non-tenured Associates and Assistants & Graduate and Undergraduate students;
$350 for Adjuncts, Lecturers & Contingent faculty.
Members of University of Colorado departments may be eligible for a discount.
Faculty and students who both nationals of and both reside and study in low per capita-GDP countries may apply for a reduction (please contact mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org).
Payment information will be provided at the time of acceptance.
Fees are non-refundable.
Application & Information
Applicants should have at least an intermediate reading knowledge of French.
Please note: sessions will not be recorded; synchronous attendance is required.
The application period is until May 15.
Successful applicants will receive notification by May 21.
Payment in full is due on May 28.
There will be a standby list.
Late applicants may be accommodated if possible; there will be a $50 surcharge for late applications that are accepted.
A letter of confirmation will be provided by the Mediterranean Seminar.
Apply via this form.
For further information or inquiries, contact mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org subject: “Summer Skills Information”)
Important dates:
Application period: 15 May 2023
Acceptance/stand by notifications: 21 May 2023
Full payment: 28 May 2023 (or 1 week after acceptance for late applicants and stand-bys)
NOTE: Numbers are limited; participants are encouraged to apply early. [download poster]
Proposed Program
Monday, 17 July 2023
10am—noon & 1—3pm
1. Introduction. Old French grammar, dialects, and literature.
2. Marie de France’s Anglo-Normand
Tuesday, 18 July 2023
10am—noon & 1—3pm
1. Trouvère lyrics
2. Chansons de geste
Wednesday, 19 July 2023
10am—noon & 1—3pm
1. The Old French of Chrétien de Troyes
2. Prose romance
Thursday, 20 July 2023
10am—noon & 1—3pm
1. Vernacular hagiography and religious texts
2. Didactic texts from (in particular) the Latin Orient