2025 Summer ENGLISH 166 001 LEC 001

2025 Summer Session A 6 weeks, May 27 - July 3

ENGLISH 166 001 - LEC 001

Special Topics

Medieval Roots of Modern Fantasy (Pre-1800)

Max Stevenson

May 27, 2025 - Jul 03, 2025
Tu, We, Th
03:00 pm - 05:29 pm
Class #:13757
Units:4

Instruction Mode: In-Person Instruction

Offered through English(link is external)

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

Rules & Requirements

Repeat Rules

Reserved Seats

Current Enrollment

No Reserved Seats

Textbooks & Materials

Associated Sections

None