Linguistic Medievalism

Dozent/in:

Gabriele Knappe

Termine:

Do, 12:15 - 13:45, U5/02.18

Inhalt:

Where do runes come from and why are they magical objects today? Are the Old English passages in TV series of the past decades well constructed, such as found in dialogues of the Canadian-Irish series “Vikings” (2013-2019) or BBC “Merlin” (2008-2012)? How are Geoffrey Chaucer's Middle English Canterbury Tales rapped on Youtube? What does it mean when what was once known as the “Dark Ages” emerges as colourful and noisy in the media and the medieval reenactment scene, and when not only the costumes but also the languages are manufactured to be as authentic as possible? All these signs of present-day engagement with the Middle Ages belong to “Medievialism”, defined by Richard Utz as “the ongoing and broad cultural phenomenon of reinventing, remembering, recreating, and reenacting the Middle Ages”. Where this medievalism is particularly concerned with language, it is known as linguistic medievalism, and it is studied in a rather recent branch of scholarship.

Before the backdrop of scholarly knowledge of the structure and use of Old English (ca. 700-1100) and Middle English (ca. 1100-1500) on all levels – phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicology, semantics and pragmatics – and also of selected original texts which served as models for modern productions, this lecture discusses a selection of modern performances, scenes and songs in Old and Middle English. Use of language-learning websites, dictionaries and books will be practiced so that by the end of term the students should be enabled to tackle original Old and Middle English texts themselves, and also to evaluate to which degree historical accuracy in modern performances has actually been reached. We will also discuss how important accuracy is in linguistic medievalism.

Knowledge of Old and/or Middle English is no prerequisite for attending this lecture – all students are welcome.

The Roots of English

Dozent/in:

Gabriele Knappe

Termine:

Di, 14:15 - 15:45, U5/02.22

Inhalt:

Description:
Why is English like that? Why is knight spelled with a kn and a gh? Why does English have so many synonyms, like start, begin, commence or clever, intelligent, astute and bright? How come that we hardly have any, in fact only eight, inflectional endings in English today? And how are German and English related, as they obviously are --- just compare, for instance, goose and Gans, house and Haus, knight and Knecht, light and Licht?
This lecture addresses all these questions, and more. Students will be given an overview of the development of the English language from its earliest attestations in the late 7th century (Old English) until today in the context of the textual transmission and sociohistorical changes. Selected passages from different periods will be introduced. Special areas of interest are the development of the vocabulary, sounds and spelling, morphology and syntax.
This lecture is particularly designed for students of BA "Anglistik/Amerikanistik", Aufbaumodul (2 ECTS). Students from other BA programmes can earn 2 or 4 ECTS points for their Studium Generale (pass/fail), and visiting students can earn 2 or 4 ungraded (pass/fail ) or graded ECTS points. Everybody else who is interested is of course welcome, too, and may attend the lecture as a guest without ECTS points.
Note that students of Lehramt Gymnasium and of B.A. Medieval Studies in their Basismodul must attend the Uebung "Englische Sprachgeschichte", not this lecture.

Empfohlene Literatur:

Suggestions for background reading:

• Norbert Schmitt and Richard Marsden. 2006. Why Is English like That? Historical Answers to Hard ELT Questions. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.
• Albert C. Baugh & Thomas Cable. 2013. A History of the English Language. Sixth ed. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.