English 202b. Beowulf and Seamus Heaney

Instructor: Daniel Donoghue
Thursday, 12:00-2:45pm | Location:  TBD

This course balances translation, poetics, and literary criticism. The commercial success of Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf has given it a prominence in the general reading public the poem has rarely if ever enjoyed. At the same time its popularization at the hands of a self-described “interloper” has created a certain amount of anxiety among scholars of Old English. Our weekly discussions will include issues of translation while we compare our in-class efforts with Heaney's and with other versions that have been published over the years. We will also consider Heaney's translation on its own merits as a poem and in relation to the body of poetry he produced over his lifetime. All of this comparative work will take place against the backdrop of our week-by-week translation of Beowulf. 

Space permitting, this course is open to qualified undergraduates. Undergraduates, please contact Prof. Donoghue before classes begin if you would like to take the course.