Medieval English people did not share our definitions of race, which were formed by colonialism, the transatlantic slave trade, and their political aftermath, beginning in what we now call the early modern or Renaissance period. Yet ideas about human difference circulating in medieval Europe were among the causes of the forms that racial domination has taken in modernity. This course addresses that paradox—race postdates the Middle Ages, but also originated there—through readings of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century literary texts alongside current literary and theoretical scholarship. Responding to the vital academic conference/movement #RaceB4Race, we ask how early English authors conceptualized difference and what their imaginings mean for us today. Taking an intersectional approach, we will focus on three rich and varied bodies of work: William Langland’s dream vision Piers Plowman, Geoffrey Chaucer’s poetry, and Middle English romance. No prior knowledge of Middle English required.

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