Fall 2005 - Thought, Culture, and Society in Europe:

Popular Culture, 1350-1650

HUHI 6313, Section 001

Thursdays, 12:30 pm – 3:15 pm

Dr. Nadine D. Pederson

ndpederson@utdallas.edu
Mail Station JO 31

Office telephone: 972-883-2168

Office location: JO 5.708
Office hours [begin Aug 25]: Thursdays, 11:00 – 11:30 am, and 3:30-5:00 pm
Tuesdays by appointment

Please note: this syllabus is subject to change at my discretion. All changes will be posted on
WebCT, and printed copies handed out in class.

DESCRIPTION OF COURSE:

The arts - particularly during the Renaissance - have a reputation for being the province of the elite, but
what did painting, architecture, dance, music, literature, and theatre mean to the so-called masses? How
were they involved in production, dissemination, and consumption? This course will explore a variety of
texts on the topic of European popular culture, with a particular focus on the arts. We will cover France
(with a focus on Carnival), Germany (street performers and the Reformation), England (literacy, orality,
and theatre), the Low Countries (visual arts), Spain (processions and the spectacle of the Inquisition),
and Italy (dress and profession).

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Peter Burke. Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe (revised edition). Ashgate, 1994. [This edition
only!]

Natalie Zemon Davis. Society and Culture in Early Modern France. Stanford University Press, 1997.

R.W. Scribner. Popular Culture and Popular Movements in Reformation Germany. Palgrave
Macmillan/Hambledon & London, 2003.

Bruce R. Smith. The Acoustic World of Early Modern England: Attending to the O-Factor. University
of Chicago Press, 1999.

Arie Theodorus van Deursen (Maarten Ultee, trans.). Plain Lives in a Golden Age: Popular Culture,
Religion and Society in Seventeenth-Century Holland. Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Teofilo Ruiz. Spanish Society, 1400-1600. Longman, 2001.

Robert C. Davis. The War of the Fists: Popular Culture and Public Violence in Late Renaissance
Venice. Oxford University Press, 1994.

Supplemental readings on reserve or available electronically.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS/EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Participation: 10%: contribution to discussions, etc.

Seven 2-page analytical papers on required texts: 35 %: by two pages, I mean 8 ½” x 11” paper, 1”
margins, 12-point type, double spaced. These should be modeled on book reviews in refereed journals:
roughly half description and half commentary. These are due at the beginning of class in hard-copy
format on the day we discuss that particular book; alternatively, you may e-mail them to me no later
than 1 hour before the start of class (if they are not in my in-box by the time I leave my office for
class, they will not be accepted). No late papers will be accepted, unless you have a documented
reason for your absence that day.

One 2-page analytical paper on supplementary reading with in-class presentation: 15%: you may
choose a) one book from the list of photocopies on reserve; b) an alternative book (subject to my
approval); c) four articles from refereed journals (subject to my approval). I need your date of
presentation no later than September 1; the title of your book (or articles) is due no later than one week
before your presentation.

One 12-page conference paper on a pre-approved topic: 40%: I need to know your topic no later than
November 3.

SCHEDULE:

August 18: Introduction

August 25: Popular Culture in Europe

Text: Burke

September 1: France
Text: N.Z. Davis
Presentation dates fixed.
September 2: Last day to drop without a W.

September 8: Focus on France: Carnival

Photocopies on reserve:
• Robert Muchembled, Popular Culture and Elite Culture in France, 1400-1750
(trans.,1985), pp. 1-13, 49-61,126-180, and 312-320
• Emmanuel Le Roy Laduire, Carnival in Romans (trans., 1979), pp.xiii-34 and 175-228
• Mikhail Bakhtin, Rabelais and His World (trans., 1968; 1984), pp. 4-5, 210-213, 238-243,
256-277, 400-415, 426-429, 454-457, 464-474

September 15: Germany

Text: Scribner

September 22: Focus on Germany: Street Performers and the Reformation

Photocopies on reserve:
• D.B. Thomas, ed./trans., The Book of Vagabonds [Liber Vagatorum] (1932), all
• Luther’s “Ordinance for a common chest,” in FR Salter, ed., Some Early Tracts on Poor
Relief (1926), pp. 80-96
• Timothy G. Fehler, “Refashioning Poor Relief in Early Modern Emden,” in Thomas Max Safley,
ed., The Reformation of Charity (2003), pp. 92-106
• Thomas Max Safely, Charity and Economy in the Orphanages of Early Modern Augsburg
(1997), pp. 19-57

September 29: England

Text: Smith

October 6: Focus on England: Literacy, Orality, and Theatre

Photocopies on reserve:
• Leonard RN Ashley, Elizabethan Popular Culture (1988), 72-177
• David Cressy, Travesties and Transgressions (2000), 1-8 and 213-233

October 13: The Low Countries

Text: van Deursen

October 20: Focus on the Low Countries: Visual Arts

Photocopies on reserve:
• Ethan Matt Kavaler, Pieter Bruegel (1999), pp. 1-28 and 149-211
• Margaret A. Sullivan, Bruegel’s Peasants (1994), pp. 98-134

October 27: Spain

Text: Ruiz

November 1: Last day to withdraw with an automatic W

November 3: Focus on Spain: Processions and the Spectacle of the Inquisition
Photocopies on reserve: TBA
Conference paper topic due.

November 10: Italy

Text: R.C. Davis

November 17: Focus on Italy: Dress and Profession

Photocopies on reserve:
• George W. McClure, Culture of Profession in Late Renaissance Italy (2004), pp. TBA

December 1, High Noon: conference paper due (e-mail or hard copy delivered to my office)

Grades available Friday, Dec. 9. If you would like your graded conference paper sent to you,
please provide a SASE.

OTHER PROCEDURAL MATTERS:

University closings are posted on the home page: www.utdallas.edu.

Canceled classes: if something comes up, I will attempt to post on WebCT and to e-mail you; if I am
unable to do so, I will notify the Arts & Humanities office and they will post a sign on our classroom.

Absences: your participation in this seminar is 10% of your grade. If you are ill or have a family
emergency, please either e-mail me or leave a message on my office phone before the start of class.

Late papers : not accepted, except in the case of documented absences. Your final conference paper
cannot be late; if you are indisposed, you will receive an Incomplete for the class (provided you have
done all of the required work up until that point).

Incompletes: UTD policy states that a student must complete 70% of the coursework in order to
receive an incomplete.

E-mail correspondence: I cannot accept e-mail sent from outside the UTD server; I cannot accept e-
mail sent to me any other address than the one listed above.
Disability accommodations : the easiest thing to do is to contact the Office of Disability Services at
x6104 and have them contact me to explain what you need; I will be happy to comply with any
reasonable accommodations your condition requires.

Grade changes: all grades are final, unless you sincerely believe I have made a mistake or have been
unfair. In that case, please submit a written explanation (no longer than one page) within one week of
receiving your grade for a particular paper, detailing the reasons why your think an error or misjudgment
has been made. I will reevaluate your work, but bear in mind that I may find additional problems I had
not noticed on my first reading. It is therefore possible that you may end up with a lower grade rather
than a higher one. If, after this procedure has been followed, you still believe your grade is inaccurate,
you have the right to appeal through university channels.

Academic dishonesty: please refer to the university’s policy, available on UTD website. I cannot place
enough stress on how important it is that you be scrupulously honest in this area; if you have questions
about attributing ideas, etc., please consult me. If I do not know the answer, I will find out for you.

Sexual harassment (or any other kind of harassment): unacceptable. Please see the UTD policy.