2025 Summer Session A
6 weeks, May 27 - July 3
ENGLISH 166 001 - LEC 001
Special Topics
Medieval Roots of Modern Fantasy (Pre-1800)
Current Enrollment
Total Open Seats:
24
Enrolled: 6
Waitlisted: 0
Capacity: 30
Waitlist Max: 10
No Reserved Seats
Course Catalog Description
Immersive study of an author, genre, form, or literary historical issue. Topics vary from term to term.
Class Description
Writers in the 20th and 21st centuries have continually looked to the Middle Ages — or, more to the point, to their idea of the Middle Ages — when constructing epic narratives set in fantastic worlds. In the course we’ll ask what it is about the medieval that writers of fantasy find so useful, as well as considering what aspects of the medieval — especially race, gender, and sexuality — their accounts ignore. We’ll read primarily the medieval literature that fantasy draws on (including Beowulf, Marie de France, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Malory), but we'll also dip judiciously into modern works by Tolkien, Delany, Jemisin, Martin, and others.
Class Notes
Book List:
Beowulf, Trans. Heaney, Norton
This class satisfies the "pre-1800" requirement for the English major
https://english.berkeley.edu/major-requirements
Beowulf, Trans. Heaney, Norton
This class satisfies the "pre-1800" requirement for the English major
https://english.berkeley.edu/major-requirements
Rules & Requirements
Repeat Rules
Reserved Seats
Current Enrollment
No Reserved Seats
Textbooks & Materials
Associated Sections
None