CELTIC 194 - Celtic Bards and Their Poems

Institution:

Harvard University

Subject:

Description:

This course explores the role of the bard, or professional poet, in the Celtic-speaking societies of Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Through the study of narrative sources concerning the origin and nature of poets and poetry, theoretical and legal texts, and, most especially, bardic poems from the early Middle Ages through the eighteenth century, we examine the physical, public and political power of a medium-poetic verse-now associated with "power" in the private and emotional sense only. We study bardic poems in various modes - eulogistic, satiric, commemorative, prophetic - and we examine the circumstances that support the institution of bardic poetry and those that contribute to its decline. Among the issues to be considered are patronage, convention, the relationship of rhetoric and truth, and the functions of poetic form. All readings in English translation, but there will be some exposure to the forms of bardic poetry in the original languages.

Credits:

4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.harvard.edu

Phone Number:

(617) 495-1000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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