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Text and Image in Early European Culture

Module description

In early European culture, text and image were intrinsically linked. The illuminations that accompany many texts in manuscripts are not mere decoration but present an essential symbolic guide to interpretation for the medieval and modern reader. Later artistic interpretations of early literature often speak more about their own period of composition or political agenda than about their fictional subjects, and are fascinating to examine from these multiple perspectives. This module introduces some of the most celebrated and significant landmarks of early French and Italian literature, with particular study of Chrtien de Troyes story of the Quest for the Holy Grail, set at the court of King Arthur; Dante's monumental Divine Comedy; and Christine de Pizan's early defence of women, the Book of the City of Ladies. The texts are studied alongside a wide range of artistic interpretations, and in a cultural continuum that transcends traditional boundaries between languages. Discussion of the cross-fertilisation of French and Italian art and literature is set in the wider context of cultural influence and artistic development throughout Europe.

The module centres on key passages from the set texts and on accompanying manuscript illuminations, illustrations, and other artistic representations (paintings, frescoes, tapestry, or stained glass) of these texts from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. The focus is both on the study of artistic representations inspired by text (iconography), and the visuality, or symbolic nature of the texts themselves.

Although English translations of the set texts are used for teaching purposes, students with the appropriate language skills in French and/or Italian will be expected to undertake both primary and secondary (where available) reading in the relevant original language(s).

Module aims - intentions of the module

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a sound general understanding of the set texts in their cultural and historical context, and of how the text-image relationship operates across different historical periods
• 2. Demonstrate an ability to analyse a wide range of images

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. With some guidance from the module tutors, evaluate and apply a range of critical approaches to the material covered
• 4. Construct a detailed argument in the appropriate register of English, marshalling a range of textual or other evidence in its support
• 5. Understand and use, in written and oral contexts, a range of literary critical terms

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Undertake defined learning activities with a measure of autonomy, asking for guidance where necessary
• 7. Develop analytical reading skills
• 8. Adopt a critical approach to the selection and organisation of material in order to produce, to a deadline, a written or oral argument

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Introduction to iconography and text-image relationships in early European culture
• Chretien de Troyes’ twelfth century French romance, the Conte du Graal (Story of the Grail), also known as Perceval, and its iconography. The legend of King Arthur and his court is well known to a popular modern audience largely through the various filmic interpretations of the Arthurian myths, from Monty Python's Holy Grail to the recent King Arthur, or Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code . What is less clear to many is how and why these medieval stories came to figure so prominently in the collective modern imagination. One explanation is the prolific and diverse iconography which has grown up around Arthurian literature. From the programmes of illustration of the manuscripts transmitting Chrtien's romances and its later medieval continuations, to Italian quattrocento art, or the Pre-Raphaelite and Classical painting and decorative arts of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Arthurian motifs and symbolism have constantly been appropriated by new generations, and adapted for new purposes and agendas. We discuss the symbolism of the Grail legend through our reading of Chrtien's text and the accompanying manuscript illuminations, together with early modern written/pictorial sources and modern filmic adaptations, and begin to piece together the reasons for its enduring popularity.
• In canto X of the Purgatorio, Dante coins the expression "visibile parlare" ("visible speech") in order to describe the miraculous merging of image and speech in the figures that the hand of God Himself carved in the bank of Mount Purgatory. Contemporary scholarship has often used this expression to refer to the striking "visual" quality of Dante's own writing. This visual (and visionary) quality will be the focus of our approach to the Comedy. Starting with a close reading of Dante's references to the visual arts and to the artists of his own times, these three lectures will guide the students through the fascinating history of Dantean iconography, offering an opportunity to explore the relationship between the text of the poem and the works of some of the many great artists it has inspired: from medieval illuminators of the fourteenth century text to the futurist painters of the 20th century through the works of such illustrators as Sandro Botticelli, John Flaxman, William Blake, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
• In the later medieval period, we look at Christine de Pizan's influential Book of the City of Ladies (1405) in the wider context of charged debate about women's worth: the Querelle des Femmes (Women's Quarrel), and an oppressive patriarchal society. Christine's Book of the City of Ladies is the earliest book written in French in praise of women by a woman. Christine, sometimes viewed as the first professional female writer, set out to construct with her City a positive source of authority and a mirror for women to protect them against widespread misogyny. Christine's work was influenced greatly by both classical and Italian models. We investigate the programmes of illustration that accompanied the text in the numerous luxurious manuscript collections of Christine's works, some prepared by the author herself, and examine to what extent Christine staged the performance of her own identity as woman and author in both text and image.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Chrtien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances (Penguin Classics, 1991). Le Conte du Graal (The story of the Grail), also known as Perceval, is the set text.
• Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, trans. Rosalind Brown-Grant (Penguin Classics, 1999).
• Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, trans. Charles S. Singleton (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970-75). This version includes the Italian text.

For those who are able to read the French set texts in the original language, the following editions are recommended:

• Chretien de Troyes, Le Conte du Graal (Livre de Poche: Lettres gothiques, 1990). Edited Old French version with facing modernised French translation.
• Christine de Pizan, La Citt delle dame, ed. P. Caraffi and E. J. Richards (Milan: Luni, 1998). Edited Middle French version with facing modernised Italian translation.
• Christine de Pizan, Le Livre de la Cit des Dames, ed. Eric Hicks and Thrse Moreau (Paris: Stock, 1986). Modernised French translation.

Suggested secondary reading:

• Keith Busby, Word and Image in Arthurian Literature (New York: Garland, 1988).
• Marilynn Desmond and Pamela Sheingorn, Myth, Montage and Visuality in Late Medieval Manuscript Culture (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003).
• Sandra Hindman, Sealed in Parchment: Rereadings of Knighthood in the Illuminated Manuscripts of Chretien de Troyes (Chicago/London: The University of Chicago Press, 1994).
• C. H. Taylor and P. Finley, Images of the Journey in Dante's Divine Comedy (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1997).

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1662

Key words search

Text, Image, France, Italy, Literature, Art, Europe