|
Lecturer(s)
|
-
Solomon Kristýna, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
|
|
Course content
|
Evil and Cunning Women of the Middle Ages The course explores the counterpart to the chaste and virtuous lady of courtly literature. It focuses on medieval texts that depict women who use cunning, intelligence, and rhetorical skill to undermine male authority, exploit, deceive, and humiliate men. These female characters do not act out of innocence or love; instead, they pursue their own interests. They use men for wealth, power, or revenge, thereby reversing traditional ideals of loyalty, obedience, and moral superiority. Corpus Aristotle and Phyllis - The clever Phyllis outwits Aristotle and exposes male overconfidence. Three Cunning Women - Three women deceive their husbands through cunning schemes and role reversal. The Priest Killed Five Times - A woman repeatedly kills her greedy husband and ultimately triumphs. Herzmaere - A woman dominates and humiliates her husband both verbally and socially. The Nuns' Tournament - Women fight fiercely against one another in a tournament to win a penis as a trophy, exposing their opponents' weaknesses. The Half Pear - A lady mocks her husband and demonstrates her superiority. The Nibelungenlied - Characters such as Kriemhild and Brünhild question traditional female ideals and act independently, vindictively, and destructively.
|
|
Learning activities and teaching methods
|
|
Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook)
|
|
Learning outcomes
|
The aim of this seminar is to introduce students to the literary phenomenon of the "dark side" of the ideal of the court lady in medieval German literature. The course focuses on the analysis of texts in which female characters actively and intentionally undermine patriarchal authority, challenge the moral ideals of the time (fidelity, obedience), and act autonomously to achieve power, wealth, or revenge. Through the interpretation of selected works (e.g., "Aristoteles und Phyllis", "Drei listige Frauen", "The Song of the Nibelungs"), the course demonstrates how literary texts addressed female cunning, intellectual and linguistic superiority, and physicality to deconstruct male self-assurance and the social order.
Graduates of this seminar will be able to apply concepts from gender studies and literary subversion in the analysis of historical sources. Through the interpretation of medieval texts, they will develop critical thinking and view the Middle Ages as a dynamic era capable of satirizing its own social norms and deconstructing the patriarchal order. Students are able to critically reflect on the historical roots of gender stereotypes, formulate and defend their own academic arguments based on their work with foreign-language literature, and effectively utilize their developed intercultural competencies.
|
|
Prerequisites
|
The course is intended for students enrolled in German Studies programmes as well as for other interested students at Palacký University. German language proficiency at approximately B2 level is expected for work with selected primary and secondary texts.
|
|
Assessment methods and criteria
|
Student performance, Analysis of Creative works (Music, Pictorial,Literary), Didactic Test
Active participation in seminars, completion of the assigned primary texts, and a maximum of two absences.
|
|
Recommended literature
|
-
Fischer, Hanns. Studien zur deutschen Märendichtung. Tübingen. 1983.
-
Grubmüller, Klaus. Novellistik des Mittelalters. Berlin. 2010.
-
Jürgen Schulz-Grobert. Aristoteles und Phyllis. Stuttgart. 2006.
|