Scandinavian Studes 433.
Literature in Translation 345.
Folklore 345.
Medieval Studies 345.
Scandinavian Tale and Ballad.  (Mellor) 
(3-4 credits)

The genres of ballad and tale, which originated in the distant past, have often been scorned by the literary establishment, but the fact that they survived through centuries of oral transmission until they were finally recorded in the fairly recent past testifies to their lasting existential appeal. The stories these texts tell are dashingly entertaining and often deeply disturbing: they may offer a profoundly fatalistic view of existence, but they may also voice and angry, and, at the same time, humorous protest against oppression. When this literature was rediscovered about 1800, it inspired many first-rank authors, e.g., Hans Christian Andersen, Henrik Ibsen, Selma Lagerlöf; and in this century it has cast its spell over Isak Dinesen, Villy Sørensen, and Pär Lagerkvist. The course examines both the original narratives and its modern "imitations" as well as gives an introduction to the critical methodologies that have recently been developed to deal with this seemingly simple, but in reality highly sophisticated, literature.

Course web site