Styles of Desire: Medieval and Renaissance Courts and Courtly Arts

Through selected examples in art and literature, this seminar will study the aesthetic and social ideals that characterized European court societies in the late medieval and early modern periods. Topics include the courtly body and its care and grooming; the rise of manners and ideals of civility; chivalry and its representations; spectacles of power; secret intrigues and aesthetic silences; games and gardens. Particular attention will be paid to courtly aesthetics in the visual arts and the development of the romantic psychology of courtly love. Our case studies are chosen from several centuries in order to suggest both the continuities of courtly style and significant historical differences; we will also consider the continuing influence of courtly ideas on our own notions of gender, politics, and polite society, and time permitting we will screen one or more contemporary films such as Shakespeare in Love and The Crying Game. Readings include works by Christine de Pizan, Baldassare Castiglione, Torquato Tasso, Jan Huizinga, Norbert Elias, Millard Meiss, Alison Cole, Michael Camille and Julia Kristeva.