From Hollywood movies like the recent King Arthur to Monty Python and T. H. White, medieval chivalric romances show their continued appeal to the wider public. In the university classroom, a number of pedagogic issues are raised when students first encounter the original romances. These challenges led to the initiative of organising a ‘Teaching Medieval Romance’ day conference through the collaboration of Jonathan Gibson at the English Subject Centre and Raluca Radulescu, who hosted the event at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Wales, Bangor, in May.
Drawing on personal teaching experience and consultations with fellow lecturers in other universities, especially at the ‘Romance in Medieval England’ conference held in March at York, a number of key areas were identified, ranging from ‘the unfamiliar’, ‘contextual teaching and interdisciplinary approaches’ and ‘materials / assessment / ICT’. The resulting discussion at Bangor highlighted the importance of assessing the current state of teaching in the area of medieval romance, and the presentations given by Roger Dalrymple (BCUC), Rosamund Allen (Queen Mary), Alison Wiggins (CELL, Queen Mary), Lesley Coote (Hull) and Phillipa Semper (Birmingham) were received and discussed with great enthusiasm. Other participants, among whom Peter Field (Bangor), Maldwyn Mills (Aberystwyth), Gail Ashton (Manchester), Samantha Rayner and Chiara Luis (Bangor), and Gareth Griffith (Bristol), also raised numerous relevant issues, and proposed key initiatives, as outlined below.
In the initial session Roger Dalrymple outlined a few key pedagogical challenges characteristic of the ME romances, including: definitions of the genre, the elusive status of the text, anonymity, the generic nature of the plot material, generic orientation of much of the secondary literature, anonymity of many of the texts, difficulties of language and challenges of introducing context.
Texts and editions
The starting point of the (extended) discussion was the availability of texts and preference in choosing particular editions. Delegates discussed how issues of textual variation loomed large in study of the romances. Students might often encounter romances in parallel text editions; individual editions vary greatly in the amount of guidance provided in terms of glossaries, textual notes etc. There was evaluation and comparison of editions commonly used in teaching the romances. Alison Wiggins presented a number of issues involved in producing a student-friendly edition, while making reference to her recently published edition of the Stanzaic Guy of Warwick for the TEAMS series. This series and others were discussed, alongside the need to make online editions more widely available in a format suited to student needs (including accessibility). Ros Allen introduced the topic of in-house editions of romances which university lecturers produce for their students, in the absence of enough available copies of several texts. It was widely agreed that teachers from various universities could co-operate in exchanging ideas (and such editions, perhaps) in order to improve student access to medieval romance texts.
Plot motifs
There was some discussion of how ME romance can present particular challenges in requiring students to gain a rapid grasp of formulaic diction and traditional plot motifs. Do constraints of time and assessment mean that students can reasonably be expected to gain only limited familiarity with the sources and analogues of their core texts? Delegates discussed the value of using plot summaries, anthologies of Middle English writing, and short excerpts in the teaching of core texts. Some consensus was reached on the matter of providing students at first and second year level with reasonable amounts of reading material without playing down the importance of acquiring the period-specific skills of analysis and interpretation. In some universities emphasis is placed on understanding the plot, and Gail Ashton (Manchester) presented the advantages of teaching in translation, a point that was further discussed in relation to language barriers.
Language
There was much discussion of the challenges of teaching the romances in the original Middle English. Rosamund Allen presented some of the students’ responses to the barrier of language and the necessity to adapt to their various levels of ability. Arguments were made for teaching the texts in translation in year one; others felt that schooling in the nuances of the original language was best begun as early as possible though it was widely acknowledged that difficulties of language and the general alterity of ME literature can be off putting for students when lecturers are making ‘pitches’ for their courses. There was consensus around the value of encouraging students to read original texts aloud and to treat the texts as ‘scripts for performance’. The value of electronic media for language learning was also discussed (online concordances, use of Virtual Learning Environments).
Context
The value of interdisciplinary and contextual approaches to romance was discussed at length. Delegates discussed instances where contextual information from history, art and architecture, had greatly enhanced undergraduate study of the texts. It was agreed that teaching the texts through manuscript culture was one particularly effective technique and the increasing availability of electronic and online manuscript resources was welcomed in this regard. Examples were given of current successful practice in incorporating the manuscript element in undergraduate teaching at Bangor, and Raluca Radulescu made a further point about the need to emphasise the appeal of the unfamiliar in the teaching of medieval literature, by contrast with some other practices, which favour the removal of linguistic and conceptual barriers in an effort to ‘sell’ the period to students. Gail Ashton suggested that an electronic package of contextual resources (images, sound clips, MS images, text excerpts, plot summaries) would prove very helpful as a learning and teaching resource. At Jonathan Gibson’s recommendation, it was agreed that a small working party will be formed to explore this possibility further.
Assessment innovations
There was wide-ranging discussion of how far assessment innovations might benefit the undergraduate study of romance. A ‘patchwork text’ model of assessment could encourage students to link romances with other forms of narrative (fairy tales, science fiction, the Western film) and to identify themes of particular interest. Small-scale applications of problem-based learning could help students to gain a purchase on the wider context of romance (for example, they might extrapolate themes, motifs or key generic characteristics from a collection of plot summaries; they might explore the question of audience and context by looking at a selection of facsimiles of MS miscellanies in which romances appear). Lesley Coote’s presentation demonstrated how adaptation of medieval texts into different media can form an excellent and highly engaging form of assessment for learning. Phillipa Semper pointed out the implications of internet use and the involvement of the lecturer in vetting sources. Further discussion took place on the usefulness and limitations of internet sources, plagiarism software and the need for collaboration on these issues among institutions.
Following the success of the ‘Teaching Medieval Romance’ conference, and in the light of previous discussions with the English Subject Centre team, Raluca Radulescu proposed a meeting of the participants at a later date. The meeting took place in London on 4 July 2006 and was hosted by the English Subject Centre. The purpose was to take the issues identified in the conference further, by putting together a ‘Medieval Romance network’, whose primary purpose would be to enable both teachers and students of medieval romance to use texts and context tools in a more efficient way. Furthermore a specific objective was set out, as already sketched in discussions with the English Subject Centre: creating an online learning and teaching resource to support the study of Middle English romance. After a wide-ranging discussion, the meeting identified five key components of the online resource they would like to see developed.
I Making Primary Texts Available online
The group hoped to make a large number of primary texts available in reliably edited and glossed online versions. This database of primary texts might have to start life in a PDF or Word format with the longer-term aspiration being that these might be upgraded into searchable html text at a later date. It was agreed that Raluca Radulescu will coordinate the compilation of an extensive list of primary texts, with Alison Wiggins, Rosamund Allen and others kindly offering to help out and supply own editions of romances.
II Multimedia Elements
a) Sound Recordings of Illustrative Sections of Text
The group considered it would enhance students’ study of the romances if short sections of text were available as sound-clips. It was suggested that the first stanza or ten lines of each text be recorded plus at least one key scene from each romance. The sound clip could be flagged at the appropriate point in the e-text of the romance. Roger Dalrymple and Alison Wiggins would coordinate this aspect, following further discussions with members of the team.
b) Clips Illuminating Context
There was also discussion of whether the network might include video materials available for online replay or podcast. One suggestion involved the filming and posting of short video-clips of localities featured in the romances (eg. Wallingford Castle, Tower of London, Warwick Castle, Guy’s Cliff, Grimsby!) complete with commentary on context or (as with the audio clips) expert readings from the original text. One format for these clips might involve a head-and-shoulders shot of the expert reader (perhaps the editor of the text) reading a section of the romance against a relevant backdrop - Glastonbury, Stonehenge, Tintagel etc. Short and attention-grabbing clips were thought to be a good starting-point though members of the meeting were also interested longer-term in the posting of lectures or conference addresses. English Subject Centre resources would be available for the initial videoing of the clips. Conferences would provide good opportunities for gathering a number of these clips from the assembled authorities. (The Arthurian Society conference generally includes excursions to relevant sites).
III Database of Synopses
The group felt that the resources should include short synopses for as much of the canon of ME romance as possible. Ideally, students would be able to search the synopsis database to gauge the prevalence of particular story-patterns, motifs and topoi. Roger Dalrymple offered to build up and edit this database, with some initial help (in contacting possible contributors) from Raluca Radulescu.
IV Commentary on Romance Themes
The resource might helpfully include some contextual material on prevalent romance themes. This could be keyed to the list of romances and the online versions of the texts. Raluca Radulescu agreed to coordinate the compilation of a list of relevant themes, with a view to sending out a spreadsheet to the Teaching Medieval Romance list (and perhaps beyond to include members of the Romance in Medieval England list) with help from Samantha Rayner. Some themes have already been proposed and include popular romance, orality, magic, family, exile and return, and gender. Philippa Semper would be interested in contributing material on relations between medieval romance and fantasy in modern literature.
V Reports on Teaching, Learning and Assessment Innovations
It was felt that the web resource should also include material dedicated to teaching resources and to reports on innovations in teaching, learning and assessment. These reports might be posted either on the main site or in the Case-Studies section of the English Subject Centre site (with a link to the Romance Network website). The kinds of assessment innovation presented by Lesley Coote at the Teaching Medieval Romance Conference might be reported on here and perhaps illustrative materials included.
