QUEER MEDIEVAL FRANCE

Co-taught by Met curator Dr. Melanie Holcomb and Prof. Eliza Zingesser (Columbia, French) in conjunction with the exhibit “Spectrum of Desire” at the Cloisters, this course considers conceptions of gender, the body, and eroticism in medieval French-speaking territories. Surveying literary texts in their manuscript contexts, sculptures, paintings, and personal items, we will attend to “queer” sexual practices, non-normative conceptions of gender, the homosocial within “courtly love,” all while learning to look askance or queerly at what might initially seem to be resolutely heteronormative. We will consider the following questions, among others:

-   In an era in which all non-procreative sex was conceived as sinful, does the opposition between homosexual and heterosexual still hold?

-   Was gender assigned based on the body or on some other factor? Was it conceived as binary or spectral, natural or cultural?

-   Does the use of modern categories help or hinder our understanding of gender and sexuality in a historically distant period?

-   What might medieval categories be able to teach us about the limitations of our contemporary understanding of gender and sexuality?

-   Where do literature and the visual arts align in their modes of engagement with/representations of queerness and where do they diverge?

Class taught in English with readings available in English translation. French majors or concentrators/minors should complete the readings in French, whenever possible. Several class sessions will be held at The Met.

Enrollment in this course is by application. Please send an email to eliza.zingesser@columbia.edu with information on your class year, major or main topic of research, and the reasons for your interest in this course.