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Medieval Catalan Tales and the Romance Tradition

Code: 105854 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2503998 Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics OT 4
2504380 English and Catalan Studies OT 3
2504380 English and Catalan Studies OT 4
2504388 Catalan and Spanish Studies OT 3
2504388 Catalan and Spanish Studies OT 4

Contact

Name:
Josep Pujol Gomez
Email:
josep.pujol@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

None. The student has followed the previous courses on Medieval Catalan Literature.


Objectives and Contextualisation

This subject offers an overview of medieval brief verse narrative, especially of tales of wonder and courtly or learned allegories. Comic and satiric tales related to the French fabliaux are also considered.

At the end of the course, students are expected (a) to have a general knowledge of all relevant authors and texts, (b) to have a good grasp of how a literary tradition is built up, and (c) to be able to produce accurate commentaries on any of the works included in the syllabus after having consulted the relevant bibliography.

 


Competences

    Catalan Philology: Literary Studies and Linguistics
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights, diversity and democratic values.
  • Apply concepts, resources and methods of literary analysis to Catalan literature taking into account the sources, periods of Western literary history and social context.
  • Carry out historical studies on the trends, genres and authors of the Catalan literary tradition.
  • Critically read and interpret texts.
  • Demonstrate a mastery of the rules of the Catalan language, its linguistic bases and all its application in the academic and professional fields.
  • Identify the main tendencies, most significant authors and most representative work in Catalan literature.
  • Interpret literary texts from a philological and comparative viewpoint.
  • Produce written work and oral presentations that are effective and framed in the appropriate register.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
    English and Catalan Studies
  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
  • Critically evaluate the literary and cultural production in the Catalan and English languages and their historical and social context.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the rules of Catalan and mastery of its foundations and applications in the academic and professional fields.
  • Identify and interpret literary texts in different languages, analysing the generic, formal, thematic and cultural characteristics in accordance with the concepts and methods of comparative literature and literary theory.
  • Recognise the most significant periods, traditions, tendencies, authors and works of literature in the Catalan and English languages in their socio-historical context.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
    Catalan and Spanish Studies
  • Carry out effective written work or oral presentations adapted to the appropriate register in different languages.
  • Carry out historical-type studies on tendences, genres and authors of the Catalan and Spanish literary tradition.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of the rules of Catalan and Spanish and mastery of their applications in the academic and professional fields.
  • Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
  • Recognise the most significant periods, traditions, tendences, authors and works in Catalan and Spanish literature in their historical and social contexts.
  • Students can apply the knowledge to their own work or vocation in a professional manner and have the powers generally demonstrated by preparing and defending arguments and solving problems within their area of study.
  • Students have the ability to gather and interpret relevant data (normally within their study area) to issue judgments that include reflection on important issues of social, scientific or ethical.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Use the methodology and concepts of literary analysis taking into account the sources and the historical and social context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Comment on literary texts, apply the acquired tools and take into account the historical and sociocultural context.
  2. Comment on literary texts, using the instruments acquired, with regard to the historical, social and cultural context.
  3. Commenting on literary texts, applying the acquired tools and taking into account the historical and sociocultural context.
  4. Critically interpret literary works take into account the relationships between different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
  5. Critically interpret literary works, taking into account the relationships between the different areas within literature and their relationship to humanistic, artistic and social areas.
  6. Critically interpreting literary works taking into account the relationships between the different areas of literature and its relationships with human, artistic and social areas.
  7. Demonstrate a basic level, knowledge of medieval Catalan language, and draft versions of modern medieval Catalan texts.
  8. Demonstrate an advanced mastery of medieval Catalan and draft versions of complex modern Catalan medieval texts.
  9. Demonstrate basic level, knowledge of Catalan medieval, and modern Catalan to write versions of medieval texts.
  10. Describe and interpret the Western cultural tradition, from the classical period to the late Middle Ages, and recognise features of the Western tradition in a medieval text.
  11. Display advanced expertise in medieval Catalan and write versions of complex medieval texts in modern Catalan.
  12. Explain the context of medieval Catalan literature and relate works to their historical and cultural context.
  13. Gain a greater capacity for reading, interpreting and critically analysing literary and linguistic texts.
  14. Identify principal and secondary ideas and express them using correct language.
  15. Identify relationships between literature and history, art and other cultural movements.
  16. Identify themes and motifs of European classical and medieval tradition in all its literary and artistic events.
  17. Identify themes and motifs of the classical and medieval European tradition in any of its literary and artistic manifestations.
  18. Identify, at an advanced level, themes and motifs of the classical and medieval European tradition in any of its literary and artistic manifestations.
  19. Identifying the relationships of literature with history, art or other cultural movements.
  20. Interpret the Western cultural tradition, from the classical period to the end of the Middle Ages, and recognize a medieval text detail the features of Western tradition.
  21. Interpret the Western cultural tradition, from the classical period to the late Middle Ages, and pinpoint features of the Western tradition in a medieval text.
  22. Maintain an attitude of respect for the opinions, values, behaviors and practices of others.
  23. Make appropriate use of the knowledge acquired in order to collect data and handle documentary sources in the study of Catalan language and literature.
  24. Make literary predictions and inferences about the content of a text.
  25. Master oral and written expression in Catalan.
  26. Produce advanced-level critical texts on the main trends, the most significant authors and the most representative works in Catalan literature.
  27. Produce critical texts on the main trends and the most significant authors and works of poetry and prose in Catalan literature.
  28. Produce normatively correct written and oral texts.
  29. Produce written and oral texts with correction rules.
  30. Properly apply the knowledge gained to data collection and management of documentary sources application to the study of Catalan language and literature.
  31. Recognise the context of advanced medieval Catalan literature and relate works to their historical and cultural context.
  32. Recognise, at an advanced level, themes and motifs of the European tradition in a medieval Catalan text.
  33. Respect the opinions, values, behaviour and customs of others.
  34. Strengthen the capacity of reading, interpretation and critical analysis of literary texts and language.
  35. Work independently in the synchronic and diachronic study of Catalan language and literature.
  36. Write complex original essays, showing mastery of the relevant literature, on medieval authors and works.
  37. Write text commentaries from a critical standpoint.

Content

  1. Introduction. Romance traditions: roman, lai, fabliau, novas. Romance philology and the study of Catalan narrative verse. Metrical forms: noves rimades and codolada. Literary language. Manuscripts and transmission. Genres.
  2. Tales of wonder. The roman courtois and the lais. Faules and ventures: La faula del rossinyol of Cerverí de Girona; La faula of Guillem deTorroella; Fraire de Joi e Sor de Plaser; Salut d’amor; Ventura del cavaller N’Hug e de Madona; Conte d’amor. The case ofl Blandín de Cornualla.
  3. Allegories and courtly tales. Jaume and Pere March's courtly and moral allegories. The  Ventura of Vicenç Comes and El déu d’Amor caçador. Learned allegories: the Llibre de Fortuna e Prudència of Bernat Metge; the Cobles de la divisió del regne de Mallorca of Anselm Turmeda; the Vesió of Bernat de So.
  4. Comic and satiric tales. The Llibre de fra Bernat and other works by Francesc de la Via. The Planys del cavaller Mataró and the Testament de Bernat Serradell. Parodies (Disputació d’En Buch ab son cavall, Bernat Metge, Joan Basset).
  5. Apendix. Brief prose narratives. Vidas and razos of the Occitan troubadours. The world of the exemplum. The Disputa de l’ase of Anselm Turmeda. Bernat Metge: from De Vetula to Valter e Griselda. The Catalan translation of Boccaccio's Decameron. Oriental wonders: the ventura of the knight Espèrcius in Tirant lo Blanc. 

Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 20 0.8 5, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 30, 31, 32
Seminars (reading and debating) 25 1 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 35, 36, 37
Type: Supervised      
Essay writing and oral delivery 10 0.4 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37
Type: Autonomous      
Research (bibliography), study and use of the Campus Virtual 20 0.8 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37
Students' own reading of selected texts 50 2 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 18, 24, 32, 35

Lectures will provide the historical context of the developments of medieval Catalan verse narrative as well as the necessary background in romance literatures. Classroom seminars will endow the student with the ability to analyse a specific aspect of any of these works and to comment on previous critical studies.

The calendar will be available on the first day of class. Students will find all information on the Virtual Campus: the description of the activities, teaching materials, and any necessary information for the proper follow-up of the subject. In case of a change of teaching modality for health reasons, teachers will make readjustments in the schedule and methodologies.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Essay writing 40% 20 0.8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37
Oral presentation of textual commentary 10% 2 0.08 2, 5, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37
Written exam 50% 3 0.12 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 37

Students will be assessed by means of (a) written exams, (b) individual essays, and (c) oral presentations (in the classroom). The final qualification will result from the following proportion: (a) 50%, (b) 40%, (c) 10%. All course assignments must be submitted in due time.

Students will receive (via Moddle) prior notice of the date and all relevant information concerning their right to review any assessment item with their teacher.

Submission of an essay and the written exam are required for assessment. The minimum mark to pass is 5. Failure to submit either of the two exercises will result in Not assessable.

Previous evaluation of a set of activities equivalent to two thirds of the total value of the assignments, and a final mark between 3.5 and 4.9 are required to opt for reassessment. Reassessment may include a written exam and/or submitting again an essay which had not reached the pass mark (5). Students who pass the reassessment will obtain a 5.0 mark.

Any impropriety (such as plagiarism or misusse of AI) that may be conducive to substantially alter the assessment of any item will result in a 0 mark for any such item (irrespectively of other disciplinary measures), and there will be no option for reassessment. Were such improper practices to take place repeatedly, the final mark for the subject concerned will be 0.

In the event that exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

 

Non continuous assessment 

The student opting for non continuous assessment will be assessed by means of a written essay (40%), a written exam (50%) and an oral exam (10%). The same reassessment method as in continuous assessment will be applied.


Bibliography

General bibliography

 

Riquer, Martí de, “Narracions en vers” (cap. VI), dins Martí de Riquer, Història de la literatura catalana, II (Ariel, 1964), 11-116.

Riquer, Isabel de, “Les Poèmes narratifs catalans en noves rimades des XIVe et XVe siècles”, Revue des Langues Romanes, 96 (1992), 327-350. 

Annicchiarico, Annamaria, “Narracions en vers” catalane medievali. Appunti e materiali per una guida bibliografica(Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 2003).

Cabré, Miriam, i Anton M. Espadaler, “La narrativa en vers” (cap. 5), dins Història de la literatura catalana, I: Literatura medieval (I): Dels orígens al segle XIV, dir. Lola Badia (Enciclopèdia Catalana / Barcino 7 Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2013), 297-372.

  

Texts

Most texts can be found in thel Repertorio Informatizzato dell’Antica Letteratura Catalana (Rialc):  www.rialc.unina.it. See also the web page Literatura Catalana Medieval (Campus Virtual), texts 115-123, as well as the anthology Blandín de Cornualla i altres narracions en vers, ed. Arseni Pacheco (Eds. 62 / “La Caixa”, 1983) [MOLC, 96].

See a complete bibliography in the Campus Virtual.

 


Software

None.


Language list

Information on the teaching languages can be checked on the CONTENTS section of the guide.