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FREN 4110
Prof. Charlie Samuelson
Fall 2024
Wednesdays: 3:35pm - 6:05pm

Medievalists often claim that the twelfth century “invented love.” At this moment, which also witnessed the birth of vernacular literature (literature written not in Latin but in romance languages), Love became—for the first time in Western history—the dominant subject of artistic production. This raises many questions, such as: Why did love become such a major, and pan-European, cultural phenomenon? Are medieval and modern desire 

fundamentally different? This course will take a comparative approach to medieval literature, looking to some of the greatest works of Occitan poetry, Middle High German and Old French romance, and Italian literature
Alongside primary texts, we will read modern psychoanalytic work about desire. Indeed, medieval culture has featured prominently in modern psychoanalysis, and psychoanalytic readings of medieval literature have been very productive, because medieval literature serves as a sort of “ground zero” for western conceptions of desire. This course will thus also offer an introduction to Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, introducing students to key texts and concepts by these thinkers (the “death drive,” Lacanian “anamorphosis,” etc.); to the work of other theorists indebted to psychoanalysis (Zizek, Peter Brooks, Bersani, etc.); and to prominent critiques of psychoanalysis (Foucault, feminist perspectives, etc.).

All discussion will be in English. Students of French will be asked to read some of the material in French. This course presupposes no background in medieval literature or psychoanalysis.

Note: There are no prerequisites for this class.

Questions? Contact charles.samuelson@colorado.edu