All work in this class is conducted in French.

What makes a human? How is gender constructed? How might sex, class, and race be connected? Medieval literature presents intriguing, sometimes challenging, answers to these important questions. This course examines a range of early texts in French that address, respectively, the animal-human divide, the gender binary, sexuality and play, race and power, and feminist community-building. You will learn how to read medieval texts in their original forms, and you will get to handle manuscripts in the impressive collections at the Bancroft Library. No prior knowledge of medieval language is required as all texts will be available in modern French translation. Class discussion will be in French.

Completion of FR102, Placement Exam, or Native Language Fluency Required for Enrollment. MUST HAVE TAKEN FRENCH 4 AT UC BERKELEY OR A FRENCH DEPARTMENT PLACEMENT TEST - For placement testing, please contact vrodic@berkeley.edu.