EN 647

Dangerous Medieval Sexualities

The course examines the various ways in which medieval individuals and groups considered certain sexual attitudes, such as challenges to normative cultural practices, to be dangerous. The course therefore considers the performative aspects of sexual desire, the undermining of normative categories such as masculinity and femininity, and conceptions of queerness. It will consider questions such as how influential were social institutions on sexual practices? Where were the boundaries of social acceptance for certain sexual behaviours? Did medieval people often cross these boundaries? How and with what consequences, if any? Can modern individuals bring current attitudes towards sex and sexuality to the study of medieval works in a way that provides benefits to the analysis of these texts? Texts studied may include Tales by Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and other transgressive romances, and accounts of supernatural transformation. Exclusions: EN692B.