Kommentar

This course aims at analyzing the way historical periods are constructed in historiography, literary and cultural theory. The example that will serve us is the Middle Ages, whose earliest construction as a period took place at the beginning of the Renaissance and continues to this very day. Even though the Middle Ages is our point of departure, we will actually be delving deep into contemporary theory, taking a look at various approaches to the past. Since the invention of the Middle Ages originated in the process of the Renaissance's self-parturition and self-definition, this course will be of especial interest not only to medievalists but equally and perhaps even more so to students of the Renaissance and to students interested in the complex relations of literature and history. A reader will be made available to students via blackboard.