Annotation
The aim of the course is to present the wide field of medieval and early modern art of autobiography with respect to both the variety of languages and cultures of medieval Europe and to the social spectrum of medieval European society. Hungarian students fighting Ottoman Turks, imprisoned Danish princesses, self-mutilated French philosophers, English visionaries, German mystics and Icelandic priests magically haunted by their own parishioners - all of them shall be given opportunity to speak through their own autobiographical writings and paint a vivid image of life in the European Middle Ages.
However, the course does not propose to concentrate on the picturesque destinies of diverse medieval personalities; its aim is mainly theoretical. Assuming control of their own life (at least in its written form), how did medieval people shape it, what form did they try to give to it, how did they stage it and where did they look for its meaning? How did they describe the autobiographical counterplayer – the world surrounding them? And last but not least: Were medieval people, even when writing about themselves in their own voice, really in control of what they produced?
The course will follow the lecture-series structure: Each week a guest professor from European or American university shall give a lecture focused on an autobiography written by a selected medieval personality. All lectures will be held in English.