Wednesday, June 22, 2016
The Disney Middle Ages Now in Paperback
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Reactions: Medieval/Modern: 9th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age
Came across this on the Medieval Academy news page:
9th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age
Posted on June 3, 2016 by Chris
http://www.themedievalacademyblog.org/9th-annual-lawrence-j-schoenberg-symposium-on-manuscript-studies-in-the-digital-age/
November 17-19, 2016
Save the Date! Registration opens at the end of the summer.
Reactions: Medieval/Modern
In partnership with the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Schoenberg Institute of Manuscript Studies (SIMS) at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to announce the 9th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age. This year’s theme, “Reactions: Medieval/Modern,” gives us space to explore the many and varied ways that people have reacted to, and acted upon, manuscripts from the Middle Ages up to today. Reactions take many forms. They include the manipulation of physical objects through, for example, the marking up of texts, addition of illustrations, the disbinding of books or rebinding of fragments, as well as the manipulation of digital objects, thanks to new technologies involved in digitization, ink and parchment analysis, virtual reconstruction, among many other processes. This symposium will also tackle how popular culture has reacted to manuscripts over time as witnessed by their use and appearance in books, games, and films. Our keynote speaker will be Michelle P. Brown, Professor emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and former Curator of Manuscripts at the British Library.
For more information and a list of speakers, visit the website: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/lectures/ljs_symposium9.html.
9th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age
Posted on June 3, 2016 by Chris
http://www.themedievalacademyblog.org/9th-annual-lawrence-j-schoenberg-symposium-on-manuscript-studies-in-the-digital-age/
November 17-19, 2016
Save the Date! Registration opens at the end of the summer.
Reactions: Medieval/Modern
In partnership with the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Schoenberg Institute of Manuscript Studies (SIMS) at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to announce the 9th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age. This year’s theme, “Reactions: Medieval/Modern,” gives us space to explore the many and varied ways that people have reacted to, and acted upon, manuscripts from the Middle Ages up to today. Reactions take many forms. They include the manipulation of physical objects through, for example, the marking up of texts, addition of illustrations, the disbinding of books or rebinding of fragments, as well as the manipulation of digital objects, thanks to new technologies involved in digitization, ink and parchment analysis, virtual reconstruction, among many other processes. This symposium will also tackle how popular culture has reacted to manuscripts over time as witnessed by their use and appearance in books, games, and films. Our keynote speaker will be Michelle P. Brown, Professor emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and former Curator of Manuscripts at the British Library.
For more information and a list of speakers, visit the website: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/lectures/ljs_symposium9.html.
Friday, June 10, 2016
New Book Chaucer on Screen
Came across this last month. No details yet on exact contents.Chaucer on Screen: Absence, Presence, and Adapting the Canterbury Tales
https://ohiostatepress.org/index.htm?books/book%20pages/kelly_pugh_chaucer.html
Edited by Kathleen Coyne Kelly and Tison Pugh
Foreword by Terry Jones
Ohio State University Press
Series: Interventions: New Studies in Medieval Culture
Books are expected to be available December 2016
$94.95 cloth
296 pp. 6x9
978-0-8142-1317-9
“This is a ground-breaking volume. It reflects a continued interest in the intersection of the medieval as a theme, subject matter, and source with more recent technologies and ways of (re)telling narratives.”—Kevin J. Harty, La Salle University
“This volume will be highly significant for scholars interested in adaptations of canonical texts, including but not limited to the medieval and Chaucer.” —Helen Young, La Trobe University
Unlike William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and other great authors who have enjoyed continued success in Hollywood, Geoffrey Chaucer has largely been shunted to the margins of the cinematic world. Chaucer on Screen: Absence, Presence, and Adapting the Canterbury Tales, edited by Kathleen Coyne Kelly and Tison Pugh, investigates the various translations of Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales to film and television, tracing out how the legacies of the great fourteenth-century English poet have been revisited and reinterpreted through visual media. Contributors to this volume address the question of why Chaucer is so rarely adapted to the screen, and then turn to the occasional, often awkward, attempts to adapt his narratives, including such works as Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s lyrical A Canterbury Tale (1944), Pier Paolo Pasolini’s still-controversial I racconti di Canterbury (1972), Bud Lee’s soft-core The Ribald Tales of Canterbury (1985), Brian Helgeland’s A Knight’s Tale (2001), and BBC television productions, among others. Chaucer on Screen aims to rethink some of the premises of adaptation studies and to erase the ideological lines between textual sources and visual reimaginings in the certainty that many pleasures, scholarly and otherwise, can be found in multiple media across disparate eras.
Kathleen Coyne Kelly is Professor of English at Northeastern University. Tison Pugh is Professor of English at the University of Central Florida.
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Medieval Studies on Television Screens (MAPACA Atlantic City 11/3-5/16)
Sorry to have forgotten to post this to the blog:
Call for Papers
Medieval Studies on Television Screens
Proposals by 30 June 2016
Session sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
For the 27th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 3-5 November 2016
Following the success of previous sessions at both the International Congress on Medieval Studies and meetings of the Popular Culture Association, the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture seeks proposals for a sponsored session on the topic of Medieval Studies on Television Screens for inclusion under the Beowulf to Shakespeare: Popular Culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Area at the 27th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association to be held at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 3-5 November 2016.
The medieval is represented on television, as in other forms of medievalism, through four basic types of stories distinguished by their settings. Narratives might be set fully in medieval past, or the medieval may be reimagined in anachronistic settings, such as the pre-medieval past (a site of origins), post medieval eras (including science fictional futures) or secondary worlds.
In this session, we hope to continue the work begun in the recent studies like Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television (2013) by the late Michael N. Salda, Arthurian Legends on Film and Television (2000) by Bert Olton, Cinematic Re-Imaginings of Arthurian Literature (2015) edited by Tara Foster and Jon Sherman, Mastering the Game of Thrones: Essays on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (2015) edited by Jes Battis and Susan Johnston, The Middle Ages on Television: Critical Essays (2015) edited by Meriem Pagès and Karolyn Kinane, Winter is Coming: The Medieval World of Game of Thrones (2016) by Carolyne Larrington, and Women in Game of Thrones: Power, Conformity and Resistance (2014) by Valerie Estelle Frankel and in the ongoing efforts of numerous bloggers, essayists, and thesis and dissertation writers working independent of dedicated publications on the medieval on screen.
Papers might address any of the following aspects of medievalism on television:
Animated or live-action series with medieval themes
Films made for television or television miniseries with medieval themes
Fantasy series or telefilms inspired by the medieval
Allusions to the medieval in otherwise non-medieval television productions
One-off episodes featuring appearances of the medieval
Commercials with medieval themes
Television documentaries and other educational television about the medieval past
Television adaptations into other media depicting the medieval
An ever-expanding list of potential works can be found at our website: https://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/.
Please send abstracts of approximately 300 words and a brief biography to the organizer, Michael A. Torregrossa, at MedievalStudiesonScreen@gmail.com.
Call for Papers
Medieval Studies on Television Screens
Proposals by 30 June 2016
Session sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
For the 27th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association, Atlantic City, New Jersey, 3-5 November 2016
Following the success of previous sessions at both the International Congress on Medieval Studies and meetings of the Popular Culture Association, the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture seeks proposals for a sponsored session on the topic of Medieval Studies on Television Screens for inclusion under the Beowulf to Shakespeare: Popular Culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Area at the 27th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association to be held at the Tropicana Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 3-5 November 2016.
The medieval is represented on television, as in other forms of medievalism, through four basic types of stories distinguished by their settings. Narratives might be set fully in medieval past, or the medieval may be reimagined in anachronistic settings, such as the pre-medieval past (a site of origins), post medieval eras (including science fictional futures) or secondary worlds.
In this session, we hope to continue the work begun in the recent studies like Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television (2013) by the late Michael N. Salda, Arthurian Legends on Film and Television (2000) by Bert Olton, Cinematic Re-Imaginings of Arthurian Literature (2015) edited by Tara Foster and Jon Sherman, Mastering the Game of Thrones: Essays on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (2015) edited by Jes Battis and Susan Johnston, The Middle Ages on Television: Critical Essays (2015) edited by Meriem Pagès and Karolyn Kinane, Winter is Coming: The Medieval World of Game of Thrones (2016) by Carolyne Larrington, and Women in Game of Thrones: Power, Conformity and Resistance (2014) by Valerie Estelle Frankel and in the ongoing efforts of numerous bloggers, essayists, and thesis and dissertation writers working independent of dedicated publications on the medieval on screen.
Papers might address any of the following aspects of medievalism on television:
Animated or live-action series with medieval themes
Films made for television or television miniseries with medieval themes
Fantasy series or telefilms inspired by the medieval
Allusions to the medieval in otherwise non-medieval television productions
One-off episodes featuring appearances of the medieval
Commercials with medieval themes
Television documentaries and other educational television about the medieval past
Television adaptations into other media depicting the medieval
An ever-expanding list of potential works can be found at our website: https://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/.
Please send abstracts of approximately 300 words and a brief biography to the organizer, Michael A. Torregrossa, at MedievalStudiesonScreen@gmail.com.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Kalamazoo 2017 Advance Notice
The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture has proposed the following sponsored session for the 52nd International Congress on Medieval Studies. The session is pending acceptance by the organizing committee, and an official call for papers will be announced should it act favorably on our behalf. Please contact us at MedievalStudiesonScreen@gmail.com if you might be interested in participating.
Animating the Medieval: Research on Animated Representations of the Middle Ages in Memory of Michael N. Salda
Sponsored by The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
Medievalist Michael N. Salda passed away in October 2015. He was, perhaps, best known for his work on Chaucer and Malory, but scholars of the medieval on screen owe him a greater debt for his pioneering work on animated films, television programming, and theatrical shorts based on medieval subjects. Much of his activities in this field focused on the Matter of Britain. He began these efforts in the mid-1990s, and they culminated in his monograph Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television published in 2013. In addition, Salda’s interests in animated representations of the medieval extended beyond Arthurian subjects; he also contributed an essay on the Vikings in animation for Vikings on Film: Essays on Depictions of the Nordic Middle Ages (2011) and was working on a venture devoted to cataloging the more general use of the medieval in animation, a project that now seems unlikely to appear given his untimely death. However, as advocates of the Once and Future King have sustained the ideals of their fallen Arthur, we, too, are able to follow Salda’s model and honor his memory in continuing his work by building upon his scholarship in our own contributions to studies of the medieval on screen and by tracking down and discussing additional representations of the medieval in animation. We believe these efforts both further the mission of the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture (successor to the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages) in promoting original research on the medieval in popular culture and acknowledge the lasting impact of a colleague that changed the field of Medievalism Studies for the better.
Animating the Medieval: Research on Animated Representations of the Middle Ages in Memory of Michael N. Salda
Sponsored by The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
Medievalist Michael N. Salda passed away in October 2015. He was, perhaps, best known for his work on Chaucer and Malory, but scholars of the medieval on screen owe him a greater debt for his pioneering work on animated films, television programming, and theatrical shorts based on medieval subjects. Much of his activities in this field focused on the Matter of Britain. He began these efforts in the mid-1990s, and they culminated in his monograph Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television published in 2013. In addition, Salda’s interests in animated representations of the medieval extended beyond Arthurian subjects; he also contributed an essay on the Vikings in animation for Vikings on Film: Essays on Depictions of the Nordic Middle Ages (2011) and was working on a venture devoted to cataloging the more general use of the medieval in animation, a project that now seems unlikely to appear given his untimely death. However, as advocates of the Once and Future King have sustained the ideals of their fallen Arthur, we, too, are able to follow Salda’s model and honor his memory in continuing his work by building upon his scholarship in our own contributions to studies of the medieval on screen and by tracking down and discussing additional representations of the medieval in animation. We believe these efforts both further the mission of the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture (successor to the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages) in promoting original research on the medieval in popular culture and acknowledge the lasting impact of a colleague that changed the field of Medievalism Studies for the better.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Kalamazoo is Now
The annual International Congress on Medieval Studies is being held this week on the grounds of Western Michigan University, and we are fortunate to have had a session accepted for inclusion on Thursday night. Please try to attend if you can.
Details are as follows:
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)
Thursday, 12 May, 7:30 PM
Session 164 (Bernhard 158)
More Middle Ages on Screen? Reconsidering The Reel Middle Ages (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Presider: Susan L. Aronstein, Univ. of Wyoming
Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005): Medieval History as Caricature
June-Ann Greeley, Sacred Heart Univ.
Postmodern Medieval: BBC’s Robin Hood Series (2006–09)
Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian Univ.
What’s Love Got to Do with It?: Kevin Reynold’s Tristan & Isolde (2006)
Kate McGrath, Central Connecticut State Univ.
The Legend Continues: Exploring the Development of Arthur in Guy Ritchie’s The Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur (2016)
Kayla Sanderson, Abilene Christian Univ.
Details are as follows:
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)
Thursday, 12 May, 7:30 PM
Session 164 (Bernhard 158)
More Middle Ages on Screen? Reconsidering The Reel Middle Ages (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Presider: Susan L. Aronstein, Univ. of Wyoming
Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005): Medieval History as Caricature
June-Ann Greeley, Sacred Heart Univ.
Postmodern Medieval: BBC’s Robin Hood Series (2006–09)
Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian Univ.
What’s Love Got to Do with It?: Kevin Reynold’s Tristan & Isolde (2006)
Kate McGrath, Central Connecticut State Univ.
The Legend Continues: Exploring the Development of Arthur in Guy Ritchie’s The Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur (2016)
Kayla Sanderson, Abilene Christian Univ.
The Association is also organizing a session on medieval TV for MAPACA this November in Atlantic City, and we hope to run a session at next year's Medieval Congress on medieval-themed anime, magna, and related electronic games.
Our book projects are on hold at present. Please wait to be contacted about updates.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Updates February 2016
I am pleased to announce that effective 1 March 2016, the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages is now the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture under the direction of founder Michael A. Torregrossa. I believe that the new name better reflects our purpose as an organization as it has evolved since 2004.
Changes to the sites will begin today and should be completed this spring. Some links may no longer work in the interim. I apologize for any issues as we reconfigure our presence on the web.
Michael A. Torregrossa
Founder and Blog-Editor, The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
Monday, February 15, 2016
Carolyne Larrington on Game of Thrones
Now available:
Winter is Coming: The Medieval World of Game of Thrones
Carolyne Larrington
Paperback | In Stock | £12.99
Imprint: I.B.Tauris
Publisher: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
Paperback
ISBN: 9781784532567
Publication Date: 30 Nov 2015
Number of Pages: 288
Height: 198
Width: 129
Illustrations: 40 bw integrated
Game of Thrones is a phenomenon. As Carolyne Larrington reveals in this essential companion to George R R Martin's fantasy novels and the HBO mega-hit series based on them the show is the epitome of water-cooler TV. It is the subject of intense debate in national newspapers; by PhD students asking why Westeros has yet to see an industrial revolution, or whether astronomy explains the continent's climatic problems and unpredictable solstices ('winter is coming'); and by bloggers and cultural commentators contesting the series' startling portrayals of power, sex and gender. Yet no book has divulged how George R R Martin constructed his remarkable universe out of the Middle Ages. Discussing novels and TV series alike, Larrington explores among other topics: sigils, giants, dragons and direwolves in medieval texts; ravens, old gods and the Weirwood in Norse myth; and a gothic, exotic orient in the eastern continent, Essos. From the White Walkers to the Red Woman, from Casterley Rock to the Shivering Sea, this is an indispensable guide to the twenty-first century's most important fantasy creation.
Winter is Coming: The Medieval World of Game of Thrones
Carolyne Larrington
Paperback | In Stock | £12.99
Imprint: I.B.Tauris
Publisher: I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
Paperback
ISBN: 9781784532567
Publication Date: 30 Nov 2015
Number of Pages: 288
Height: 198
Width: 129
Illustrations: 40 bw integrated
Game of Thrones is a phenomenon. As Carolyne Larrington reveals in this essential companion to George R R Martin's fantasy novels and the HBO mega-hit series based on them the show is the epitome of water-cooler TV. It is the subject of intense debate in national newspapers; by PhD students asking why Westeros has yet to see an industrial revolution, or whether astronomy explains the continent's climatic problems and unpredictable solstices ('winter is coming'); and by bloggers and cultural commentators contesting the series' startling portrayals of power, sex and gender. Yet no book has divulged how George R R Martin constructed his remarkable universe out of the Middle Ages. Discussing novels and TV series alike, Larrington explores among other topics: sigils, giants, dragons and direwolves in medieval texts; ravens, old gods and the Weirwood in Norse myth; and a gothic, exotic orient in the eastern continent, Essos. From the White Walkers to the Red Woman, from Casterley Rock to the Shivering Sea, this is an indispensable guide to the twenty-first century's most important fantasy creation.
Kalamazoo 2016 Round Table
Here are the details of our sponsored round table session for this year's Medieval Congress:
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)
Thursday, 12 May, 7:30 PM
Session 164 (Bernhard 158)
More Middle Ages on Screen? Reconsidering The Reel Middle Ages (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Presider: Susan L. Aronstein, Univ. of Wyoming
Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005): Medieval History as Caricature
June-Ann Greeley, Sacred Heart Univ.
Postmodern Medieval: BBC’s Robin Hood Series (2006–09)
Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian Univ.
What’s Love Got to Do with It?: Kevin Reynold’s Tristan & Isolde (2006)
Kate McGrath, Central Connecticut State Univ.
The Legend Continues: Exploring the Development of Arthur in Guy Ritchie’s The Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur (2016)
Kayla Sanderson, Abilene Christian Univ.
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI)
Thursday, 12 May, 7:30 PM
Session 164 (Bernhard 158)
More Middle Ages on Screen? Reconsidering The Reel Middle Ages (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Presider: Susan L. Aronstein, Univ. of Wyoming
Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005): Medieval History as Caricature
June-Ann Greeley, Sacred Heart Univ.
Postmodern Medieval: BBC’s Robin Hood Series (2006–09)
Mikee Delony, Abilene Christian Univ.
What’s Love Got to Do with It?: Kevin Reynold’s Tristan & Isolde (2006)
Kate McGrath, Central Connecticut State Univ.
The Legend Continues: Exploring the Development of Arthur in Guy Ritchie’s The Knights of the Round Table: King Arthur (2016)
Kayla Sanderson, Abilene Christian Univ.
The full program can be accessed at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/events/sessions.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Helen Young's Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms
Another new book of interest to our endeavors. Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones
by Helen Young
http://www.cambriapress.com/books/9781604978964.cfm
This book is in the Cambria Studies in Classicism, Orientalism, and Medievalism book series (General Editor: Nickolas A. Haydock).
Book ISBN: 9781604978964
Pages: 238
Publication Date: June 18, 2015
Dimensions: 6 x 9 in or 229 x 152 mm Case Laminate
Price: $ 104.99 (ebook options also available)
From advertisements to amusement parks, themed restaurants, and Renaissance fairs twenty-first century popular culture is strewn with reimaginings of the Middle Ages. They are nowhere more prevalent, however, than in the films, television series, books, and video games of speculative genres: fantasy and science fiction. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies and George R. R. Martin’s multimedia Game of Thrones franchise are just two of the most widely known and successful fantasy conglomerates of recent decades. Medievalism has often been understood as a defining feature of fantasy, and as the antithesis of science fiction, but such constructs vastly underestimate the complexities of both genres and their interactions. “Medieval” has multiple meanings in fantasy and science fiction, which shift with genre convention, and which bring about their own changes as authors and audiences engage with what has gone before in the recent and deeper pasts.
For several decades after medievalism was established as a field of legitimate scholarly inquiry in the 1980s and 1990s, popular culture iterations were largely viewed with some suspicion if not outright disdain. The twenty-first century, however, has seen growing recognition of the importance of what has been termed the “neomedieval”: medievalisms which playfully reimagine the past rather than attempting historically accurate re-creation.
Science fiction and fantasy, with their necessarily impossible worlds, are perhaps the ultimate in neomedievalism. Earlier volumes have examined some of the ways in which contemporary popular culture re-imagines the Middle Ages, offering broad overviews, but none considers fantasy, science fiction, or the two together. The focused approach of this collection provides a directed pathway into the myriad medievalisms of modern popular culture. By engaging directly with genre(s), this book acknowledges that medievalist creative texts and practices do not occur in a vacuum, but are shaped by multiple cultural forces and concerns; medievalism is never just about the Middle Ages.
Studies of genres, moreover, often focus on a single medium—fiction, film, or television. Each section, and some individual chapters in the volume explores at least two, reflecting the multimedia nature of contemporary popular culture in general and genres in particular. By exploring the way medievalist discourses travel and shift across media within connected genres, the volume explores some of their internal complexities.
Studies of popular genres illuminate social and cultural trends and concerns, while medievalisms reveal far more about the milieu in which they were created than they do about the Middle Ages. By exploring how popular genres develop, pulling on and being pushed by changing approaches to “the medieval,” this collection sheds light on twenty-first century popular culture’s dynamic and at times conflicting moves, and those of the society which creates and consumes it. Individual chapters take diverse approaches, both synchronic and diachronic, some offering detailed case studies and others broader reviews of themes and trends. The variety enables a detailed picture of the complexities of fantasy and science fiction medievalisms to emerge.
The first section explores the reception of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, the two chapters together demonstrate that fantasy’s “Tolkienian” medievalism is not that of a single author, but of many readers and creators making and remaking it in different media. The second shows that the dark and dirty medievalism of Game and Thrones and the subgenre of gritty fantasy is complex and at times contradictory. It illustrates the impact of market trends and forces on popular culture texts and the ways they are understood to engage with the past. The third section demonstrates that medievalism has been at the heart of science fiction since the ‘Golden Age’ of the 1960s, and illustrates that use of medieval material and reference points connects it with fantasy as much as it separates the two genres. The final chapter shows that in the twenty-first century, fantasy definitions of medievalisms are expanding to include more than just references to the European Middle Ages which have long been conventional in the genre.
Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms will be of much interest to scholars of fantasy and science fiction, and of medievalism.
Table of Contents
Introduction (Helen Young)
Part I: The Afterlives of Middle-earth
Chapter 1: Low-Culture Receptions of Tolkien’s High Fantasy: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want…” (Chris Bishop)
Chapter 2: Tolkien After Tolkien: Medieval and Medievalist Intertexts in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings (Margarita Carretero-González)
Part II: Dirt and Grit
Chapter 3: Rewriting the Fantasy Archetype: George R. R. Martin, Neomedievalist Fantasy, and the Quest for Realism (Shiloh Carroll)
Chapter 4: Grim and Grimdark (Gillian Polack)
Chapter 5: Our minds are in the gutter, but some of us are watching Starz…: Sex, Violence and Dirty Medievalism (Andrew Elliott)
Part III: Science Fiction Medievalisms
Chapter 6: Empire and After: Science Fiction’s Medievalism in the Golden Age and Beyond (Donald Riggs)
Chapter 7: Sword and Science: Science Fiction Interpretations of Medieval Arthurian Literature and Legend in Stargate SG-1 (Steven Gil)
Part IV: Expanding the Medieval
Chapter 8: The Arabian Nights in Twenty-First Century Fantasy Fiction and Film (Kris Swank)
Chapter 9: Moving Beyond Tolkien’s Medievalism Through Robin Hobb’s Farseer and Tawny Man Trilogies (Geoffrey B. Elliott)
Works Cited
Index
About Helen Young
Helen Young is an Honorary Associate of the Department of English at the University of Sydney, Australia. She holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts/Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong. Her other publications include Race in Popular Fantasy Fiction: Habits of Whiteness and The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre, as well as articles in journals including Studies in Medievalism, Extrapolation, and Games and Culture.
About the Contributors
Chris Bishop is Lecturer in Classics at the Australian National University. Dr. Bishop’s previous publications include Text and Transmission in Medieval Europe and articles in journals such as Studies in Medievalism, Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, and the International Journal of Cultural Studies.
Margarita Carretero-González is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the English and German Department of the University of Granada (Spain). She has published both nationally and internationally on J.R.R. Tolkien, fantasy fiction, children’s literature, film adaptations, ecocriticism and ecofeminism.
Shiloh Carroll holds a PhD in English from Middle Tennessee State University. Her previous publications have appeared in George R.R. Martin and the Medieval Literary Tradition, Slayage, Mythlore, and The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.
Andrew B.R. Elliott is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Lincoln (UK). He is author of Remaking the Middle Ages: The Methods of Cinema and History in Portraying the Medieval World and editor of Playing with the Past: Digital Games and the Simulation of History and The Return of the Epic Film: Genre, Aesthetics and History in the 21st Century.
Geoffrey B. Elliott is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. He earned his PhD and MA at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and his work has been published in CCC, The Explicator, Studies in Fantasy Literature, and online.
Steven Gil holds a PhD in Cultural History and his publications include articles in The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, New Review of Film and Television Studies, and Thesis Eleven. Dr. Gil is the Science Area Chair for the Popular Culture Association of Australia and New Zealand (PopCAANZ), and the Science & Popular Culture Area Cochair for the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association (PCA/ACA).
Gillian Polack has doctorates in history and in English and a Master of Arts in medieval studies. She is a writer and a historian and is based at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. Her publications include The Middle Ages Unlocked and Five Historical Feasts.
Don Riggs is Professor of English at Drexel University and holds a PhD in comparative literature from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. His previous publications include Bilateral Asymmetry: Poems and Uncommonplaces: Poems of the Fantastic, as well as articles in journals including Journal for the Fantastic in the Arts, Journal of Modern Literature, Extrapolation, and The Sixteenth Century Journal.
Kris Swank is Library Director at Pima Community College. She holds an MLS from the University of Arizona, an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and an MA in English with a concentration in Tolkien Studies at Mythgard Institute. Her essays on fantasy literature have appeared in Tolkien Studies, Mythlore, and she has written for Library Journal, American Libraries, and other professional library publications.
Helen Young's The Middle Ages in Popular Culture
An interesting new collection with a number of pieces of relevance.The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre
by Helen Young
http://www.cambriapress.com/books/9781604978971.cfm
This book is in the Cambria Studies in Classicism, Orientalism, and Medievalism book series (General Editor: Nickolas A. Haydock).
Book ISBN: 9781604978971
Pages: 240
Publication Date: July 08, 2015
Dimensions: 6 x 9 in or 229 x 152 mm Case Laminate
Price: $ 104.99 (ebook options also available)
Contemporary Western society is in the midst of an efflorescence of medievalism, from political rhetoric to the names of sports teams, advertising, and themed restaurants, to the pages and screens of popular culture. Medievalism in the twenty-first century is layered, folding into itself the practices, processes, and representations of earlier eras, as well as those of the time and place in which it is produced. Reimagining history for mass consumption has as much, if not more, to do with the needs and wants of the present than with any historical reality. Profit and pleasure define popular culture, and genres are a major framework organizing the making of both: creative industries use them to make the former, and consumers to help find the latter. When the Middle Ages are reimagined in popular-culture contexts, they are shaped by the genre in which any individual creative work is produced and consumed. The nexus of medievalism and popular genres is the focus of this collection, which interrogates the interplay between past and present in mass culture.
Studies of popular culture medievalisms have not, to date, examined the interconnections of the two in any organized fashion, yet genre is a major framework structuring representation, production, consumption, and the making of meaning in popular culture. The conventions of any genre shape, even if they do not entirely circumscribe, what is possible in any constitutive creative work—this is as true of medievalism as it is of any other element—while genres themselves are shaped by the anxieties of the society which creates them. Given that a high proportion of today’s popular culture medievalisms are filtered through genre, this volume’s exploration of their interconnections sheds light not only on the nature of both, but on social issues and identity constructs of the present cultural moment.
Rather than focusing on the medievalism of a single genre, this volume puts multiple genres in dialogue and considers both medievalism and genre to be frameworks from which meaning can be produced. Chapters in it explore works from a wide range of genres—children’s and young adult, historical, cyberpunk, fantasy, science fiction, romance, and crime—and across multiple media—fiction, film, television, video games, and music. The range of media types and genres enable comparison, and the identification of overarching trends, while also allowing comparison of contrasting phenomena.
As the first volume to explore the nexus of medievalism and genre across such a wide range of texts, this collection illustrates the fractured ideologies of contemporary popular culture. The Middle Ages are more usually, and often more prominently, aligned with conservative ideologies, for example around gender roles, but the Middle Ages can also be the site of resistance and progressive politics. Exploring the interplay of past and present, and the ways writers and readers work engage with them demonstrates the conscious processes of identity construction at work throughout Western popular culture. The collection also demonstrates that while scholars may have by-and-large abandoned the concept of accuracy when considering contemporary medievalisms, the Middle Ages are widely associated with authenticity, and the authenticity of identity, in the popular imagination; the idea of the real Middle Ages matters, even when historical realities do not.
The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre will be of interest to scholars of medievalism, popular culture, and genre.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Multiple Middle Ages (Helen Young)
Chapter 1. Female Protagonists in Arthurian Television for the Young: Gendering Camelot (Clare Bradford and Rebecca Hutton)
Chapter 2. Women of the Cinematic Middle Ages in Red Riding Hood and Brave: Marriage or Monsters (Judy Ford)
Chapter 3. Medievalism and the Courtship Plot in Julie Garwood’s Popular Romance Novels (Geneva Diamond)
Chapter 4. The Authenticity of Intersectionality in Nicola Griffith’s Hild (Robin Anne Reid)
Chapter 5. Reinventing the Past in European Neo-medieval Music (Alana Bennett)
Chapter 6. Neomedievalism and the Epic in Assassin’s Creed: The Hero’s Quest (Elisabeth Herbst Buzay and Emmanuel Buzay)
Chapter 7. The Cyberpunk Road away from Middle-earth toward Virtual Atonement: A Quest-Pilgrimage and Surgical-Torture of Transient Transcendence between the Boundaries of Gender and Sexuality in William Gibson’s Fiction and the Wachowski Sibling’s Films (Carol Robinson )
Chapter 8. Medievalism, the Detective, and the Quest for Whodunnit (Anne McKendry)
Chapter 9. King Arthur and the Knights of the Postmodern Fable: Folding the Dead (Molly Brown)
Bibliography
Index
About Helen Young
Helen Young is an Honorary Associate of the Department of English at the University of Sydney, Australia. She holds a PhD in English Literature from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor of Arts/Creative Arts from the University of Wollongong. Her other publications include Race in Popular Fantasy Fiction: Habits of Whiteness and Fantasy and Science-Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones, as well as articles in journals including Studies in Medievalism, Extrapolation, and Games and Culture.
About the contributors
Alana Bennett is an MA student and future Wolfson-funded doctoral candidate at the University of York. She holds a BA (Honours) from the University of Western Australia, where she has also lectured and taught. She has previously published with Limina Journal and is a cofounder of Ceræ Journal.
Clare Bradford is the Alfred Deakin Professor at Deakin University in Melbourne. Her books include Reading Race: Aboriginality in Australian Children’s Literature, which won the ChLA Book Award and the IRSCL Award; Unsettling Narratives: Postcolonial Readings of Children’s Literature; New World Orders in Contemporary Children’s Literature: Utopian Transformations; and The Middle Ages in Children’s Literature. She has published over eighty book chapters and journal articles in journals including Ariel, Children’s Literature, Australian Literary Studies, and Children’s Literature Association Quarterly.
Molly Brown is a Professor and Head of the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Pretoria and her primary research interest is in fantasy whether written for adults or children. She teaches an Honors course in children’s literature and has supervised postgraduate research in the field. She has delivered papers at various international conferences and has published articles in a number of peer-reviewed journals including The Lion and the Unicorn, Mousaion, The English Academy Review and Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature.
Emmanuel Buzay is a visiting assistant professor in the French and the Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies sections of the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages at the University of Connecticut. He holds a PhD from the University of Connecticut, a D.E.A. from the Université de Paris XIII–Villetaneuse, and a Maîtrise from the Université de Paris III–Sorbonne Nouvelle. Dr. Buzay has published in journals such as Contemporary French & Francophone Studies: SITES, Nouvelles Francographies, and Sciences Humaines and has given talks at several of the International Colloquia of 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies and several of the SPFFA Colloquia.
Geneva Diamond is an assistant professor of English literature at Albany State University, Georgia. She holds a PhD, two MAs, and a BA from the University of Kansas. She has presented on medievalism in Harlequin romance novels and Julie Garwood romance heroines at the Georgia Medievalists Group Conference and the Kalamazoo International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Judy Ann Ford is a professor of history at Texas A&M University–Commerce. She holds a PhD and an MA from Fordham University and a BA from St. John’s University in New York City. Dr. Ford’s scholarship focuses on both popular religion in late medieval and early modern England and on modern fictional representations of the Middle Ages, especially those of J. R. R. Tolkien. She has published in several journals including Tolkien Studies, Journal of Popular Culture, and Renaissance and Reformation. Dr. Ford also codirected two National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institutes for School Teachers on Tolkien.
Elisabeth Herbst Buzay is a PhD student in the French section of the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages at the University of Connecticut. She holds a D.E.A. from the Université de Paris III–Sorbonne Nouvelle, a Maîtrise from the Université de Paris IV–Sorbonne, and BA’s from the University of Chicago. Herbst Buzay has published in L’Esplumeoir and given talks at the 49th International Conference on Medieval Studies and the 2015 International Colloquium of 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies.
Rebecca Hutton is a PhD candidate in the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University, Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and BA (Honours) from Deakin. She has authored or coauthored papers on young adult texts that have been published in Interjuli, The Encounters: Place, Situation, Context Papers, and Deletion.
Anne McKendry holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and an MA from the University of Sydney. Her publications include “Mateship in the Middle Ages: The Australianness of William Wallace, William Thatcher, and Robin Longstride” in International Medievalism and Popular Culture, edited Louise D’Arcens and Andrew Lynch (Cambria, 2014).
Robin Anne Reid is a Professor in the Department of Literature and Languages at Texas A&M University–Commerce. Her teaching areas are creative writing, critical theory, and marginalized literatures. Her research interests include queer theory, intersectionality, digital literary studies, fan studies, and Tolkien studies. Dr. Reid edited the first encyclopedia on Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Carol L. Robinson is an associate professor at Kent State University. She holds a PhD and an MA from the University of Georgia. Her research interests include medievalism, film, video games and American Deaf culture literature. Her publications include Neomedievalism in the Media: Essays on Film, Television, and Electron Games as well as articles in journals such as Studies in Medievalism.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
CFP Conference Call for Papers: World Cinema and Television in French (proposals by 3/1/2016; U of Cincinnati 9/9-10/2016)
Of potential interest:
Conference Call for Papers: World Cinema and Television in French
Discussion published by Michael Gott on Tuesday, September 22, 2015
https://networks.h-net.org/node/14467/discussions/84437/conference-call-papers-world-cinema-and-television-french
Call for Papers:
World Cinema and Television in French
September 9-10, 2016 ∙ University of Cincinnati, USA
Sponsored by Contemporary French Civilization, The University of Cincinnati & The University of Rhode Island
Confirmed Keynote Speaker: Bill Marshall (University of Stirling)
Confirmed Roundtable Participants: Joseph Mai (Clemson University), Mireille Rosello (University of Amsterdam), Sylvie Durmelat (Georgetown University), Thibaut Schilt (College of the Holy Cross)
This interdisciplinary conference will examine cinematic and televisual cultural productions that fall under a broad ‘French-language’ umbrella in order to map out significant trends as well as new directions in the study of global French-language cinema and television and its points of contact with other languages and industries. It also aims to explore the opportunities and limitations of adopting labels such as cinéma-monde, transnational, Francophone, and World Cinema, as critical frameworks.
The conference will conclude with a round table that will bring together ideas raised during the conference.
We invite proposals in French or English for single papers and panels. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Conference participants will be invited to submit their papers for a special issue on the conference theme that will be published inContemporary French Civilization.
The deadline for abstracts (300 words) is March 1, 2016. Please send abstracts and a short bio as a single attachment toWorldCinemaConference@gmail.com
Please contact Michael Gott (michael.gott@uc.edu) or Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp (lkealhofer@uri.edu) with any questions.
Scientific Committee:
Sylvie Durmelat (Georgetown University)
Michael Gott (University of Cincinnati)
Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp (University of Rhode Island)
Joseph Mai (Clemson University)
Thérèse Migraine-George (University of Cincinnati)
Mireille Rosello (University of Amsterdam)
Thibaut Schilt (College of the Holy Cross)
Sponsored by The University of Cincinnati Center for Film and Media Studies and Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, The University of Rhode Island, and Contemporary French Civilization
Conference Call for Papers: World Cinema and Television in French
Discussion published by Michael Gott on Tuesday, September 22, 2015
https://networks.h-net.org/node/14467/discussions/84437/conference-call-papers-world-cinema-and-television-french
Call for Papers:
World Cinema and Television in French
September 9-10, 2016 ∙ University of Cincinnati, USA
Sponsored by Contemporary French Civilization, The University of Cincinnati & The University of Rhode Island
Confirmed Keynote Speaker: Bill Marshall (University of Stirling)
Confirmed Roundtable Participants: Joseph Mai (Clemson University), Mireille Rosello (University of Amsterdam), Sylvie Durmelat (Georgetown University), Thibaut Schilt (College of the Holy Cross)
This interdisciplinary conference will examine cinematic and televisual cultural productions that fall under a broad ‘French-language’ umbrella in order to map out significant trends as well as new directions in the study of global French-language cinema and television and its points of contact with other languages and industries. It also aims to explore the opportunities and limitations of adopting labels such as cinéma-monde, transnational, Francophone, and World Cinema, as critical frameworks.
The conference will conclude with a round table that will bring together ideas raised during the conference.
We invite proposals in French or English for single papers and panels. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- New Francophone spaces in world cinema and television
- Transnational television and cinema in French (or partly in French)
- Screen media and/or digital media in the French-speaking world
- The notion of cinéma-monde or cinéma(s)-monde(s)
- Parameters, boundaries, and definitions of French-language and/or French cinema
- “Hubs” and emerging or overlooked sites of French-language cinema (Montreal, Belgium, Chad)
- Film and television industries (production and/or reception of French-language cinema and television, funding sources, industry practices, etc.)
- Circuits and institutions of marketing and dissemination of French-language cinema (international and regional film festivals, cinema houses, etc.)
- International auteurs working in Paris or international auteurs not based in Paris but making films in French/in France (Aki Kaurismäki, Ursula Meier, Merzak Allouache, Amos Gitai, etc.)
- Directors whose work has intersected various Francophone spaces
- Linguistic issues and parameters of “French-language cinema”, non-French productions containing French dialogue, French productions with little or no French in them, multilingual cinema
- Interaction with and competition from English and points of contact with other languages in the Middle East, Africa, the Maghreb, and elsewhere
- Antecedents to contemporary World cinema in French
- Teaching French-language cinema to students who do not speak French
Conference participants will be invited to submit their papers for a special issue on the conference theme that will be published inContemporary French Civilization.
The deadline for abstracts (300 words) is March 1, 2016. Please send abstracts and a short bio as a single attachment toWorldCinemaConference@gmail.com
Please contact Michael Gott (michael.gott@uc.edu) or Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp (lkealhofer@uri.edu) with any questions.
Scientific Committee:
Sylvie Durmelat (Georgetown University)
Michael Gott (University of Cincinnati)
Leslie Kealhofer-Kemp (University of Rhode Island)
Joseph Mai (Clemson University)
Thérèse Migraine-George (University of Cincinnati)
Mireille Rosello (University of Amsterdam)
Thibaut Schilt (College of the Holy Cross)
Sponsored by The University of Cincinnati Center for Film and Media Studies and Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, The University of Rhode Island, and Contemporary French Civilization
CFP Essay Collection on The Hobbit in Fiction and Film (proposals by 12/1/2015)
Head's up from H-Film:
CFP: Essay Collection on The Hobbit in Fiction and Film (working title) with McFarland publisher
Discussion published by Janice Bogstad on Friday, October 2, 2015
https://networks.h-net.org/node/14467/discussions/86662/cfp-essay-collection-hobbit-fiction-and-film-working-title
COMPARING JACKSON’S The Hobbit FILMS TO TOLKIEN’s NOVEL: : Text into Film Edited by Dr. Janice M Bogstad
Call for papers for an essay collection -12-15 essays of 6000-8,000 words in length.
The deadline for receipt of an abstract, for consideration, is Dec 1, 2015. Final manuscripts are due March 1, 2016 with encouragement for earlier submission. Contact me to discuss exceptions.
Send Abstracts and address queries to:
Dr. Janice M. Bogstad, Professor bogstajm@uwec.edu 715-836-6032
(McIntyre Library U of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI 54702-5010
Manuscripts will be reviewed in a double-blind process by peer reviewers after having been tentatively accepted by the editor.
The collection will consider comparisons between Tolkien’s original Hobbit and the three Jackson films. Of interest are structural parallels and differences, changes in character-focus from the book to the films, and considerations of philosophical differences in the overall message of Tolkien’s original book and Jackson’s films, but other well-supported arguments will also be considered. As with the previously published essay collection, Picturing Tolkien (McFarland 2011), this collection will focus on positive comparisons. Essayists may wish to discuss features of the film that are, in their judgment, less successful, but will be asked to hold condemnation of the cinematic text simply on the basis of its differences from the textual narrative. Authors may decide to focus on the films or the novel but the primary focus is comparative features of both. Contribution to Tolkien scholarship can be articulated with two concepts: its audience is the informed reader, not only the Tolkien, literary or film critic. Its basic framework is in respect of co-measurability, that the books and the films are co-creations with parallel structures that intersect at certain points. Each should be examined and compared as if those comparisons and intersections are significant to understanding contemporary Tolkien studies.
CFP: Essay Collection on The Hobbit in Fiction and Film (working title) with McFarland publisher
Discussion published by Janice Bogstad on Friday, October 2, 2015
https://networks.h-net.org/node/14467/discussions/86662/cfp-essay-collection-hobbit-fiction-and-film-working-title
COMPARING JACKSON’S The Hobbit FILMS TO TOLKIEN’s NOVEL: : Text into Film Edited by Dr. Janice M Bogstad
Call for papers for an essay collection -12-15 essays of 6000-8,000 words in length.
The deadline for receipt of an abstract, for consideration, is Dec 1, 2015. Final manuscripts are due March 1, 2016 with encouragement for earlier submission. Contact me to discuss exceptions.
Send Abstracts and address queries to:
Dr. Janice M. Bogstad, Professor bogstajm@uwec.edu 715-836-6032
(McIntyre Library U of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Eau Claire, WI 54702-5010
Manuscripts will be reviewed in a double-blind process by peer reviewers after having been tentatively accepted by the editor.
The collection will consider comparisons between Tolkien’s original Hobbit and the three Jackson films. Of interest are structural parallels and differences, changes in character-focus from the book to the films, and considerations of philosophical differences in the overall message of Tolkien’s original book and Jackson’s films, but other well-supported arguments will also be considered. As with the previously published essay collection, Picturing Tolkien (McFarland 2011), this collection will focus on positive comparisons. Essayists may wish to discuss features of the film that are, in their judgment, less successful, but will be asked to hold condemnation of the cinematic text simply on the basis of its differences from the textual narrative. Authors may decide to focus on the films or the novel but the primary focus is comparative features of both. Contribution to Tolkien scholarship can be articulated with two concepts: its audience is the informed reader, not only the Tolkien, literary or film critic. Its basic framework is in respect of co-measurability, that the books and the films are co-creations with parallel structures that intersect at certain points. Each should be examined and compared as if those comparisons and intersections are significant to understanding contemporary Tolkien studies.
CFP History Channel's Vikings Collection (proposals 6/1/2016)
Courtesy Tim Rayborn:
New anthology on the Vikings television show
McFarland Publishers, an independent book publisher devoted to a wide variety of topics, including history, sports, and pop culture, is releasing a collection of essays on the History Channel’s television series "Vikings." I will act as editor, being a medievalist and having an interest in Northern European culture and history. I have written three books for McFarland (two available now and one published early next year), and am a professional performer of early music.
Entering its fourth season in 2016, the show has a large and growing audience of fans, though it also has detractors and critics, mainly for its tendency to take liberties with historical events and details. However, it does make use of period languages, and is known for its cinematography.
In assembling a collection of essays, I am looking for a considerable variety of topics, including history, sociology, pop culture studies, gender studies, etc. Possible subjects might include:
The point of this anthology is to view the show for its own merits, understanding that it is a mixture of history, saga literature, fiction, and anachronism, all of which gives it its own unique flavor. Critical essays, rather than merely criticism, are what we seek. Ideally, potential contributors would want to view the upcoming Season Four (premiering in March, 2016) to include aspects of it in their articles, though there are certainly enough topics to begin work now, and to propose subjects of study.
Essays must be in English, fully cited with end notes, and bibliography, all in accordance with the current Chicago Manual of Style. The length of each contribution should be between about 5,000 and 10,000 words, unless there is a good reason that a given essay should be shorter or longer. Please use clear, concise writing.
Peer review will be conducted after the collection is submitted, currently scheduled for September 1, 2016.
Accordingly, the deadline for article submission is June 1, 2016. Submissions before that deadline are, of course, most welcome and helpful.
If contributors wish to include images not in public domain or text excerpts from copyrighted materials requiring written permission to reproduce, they will be expected to obtain such permissions on their own, and pay the required reproduction fees (if needed). McFarland cannot reimburse for this expense. I will need hard copies of each such permission. McFarland also discourages the use of quotations of dialogue from individual episodes, as well as images/screen captures, as these require additional permission/fees from the television network and can delay publication.
Potential contributors should submit a one- to two-page proposal including a potential title, a short description/abstract of the topic(s) for your essay, a brief summary of your background and qualifications, and contact information.
Please email your proposals to me at: trayborn@sbcglobal.net
Thank you for your time and interest, and I look forward to receiving and reading your proposals.
Best wishes,
Tim Rayborn
www.mcfarlandbooks.com
www.timrayborn.com
New anthology on the Vikings television show
McFarland Publishers, an independent book publisher devoted to a wide variety of topics, including history, sports, and pop culture, is releasing a collection of essays on the History Channel’s television series "Vikings." I will act as editor, being a medievalist and having an interest in Northern European culture and history. I have written three books for McFarland (two available now and one published early next year), and am a professional performer of early music.
Entering its fourth season in 2016, the show has a large and growing audience of fans, though it also has detractors and critics, mainly for its tendency to take liberties with historical events and details. However, it does make use of period languages, and is known for its cinematography.
In assembling a collection of essays, I am looking for a considerable variety of topics, including history, sociology, pop culture studies, gender studies, etc. Possible subjects might include:
- Historical vs. onscreen representations of events, people, etc. The show often mixes elements together from different accounts. The point here would not be to overly criticize the series for its departures from history, but rather to examine differences and perhaps investigate why certain changes were made.
- Representations in the show of everyday life, such as food, drink, farming, and domestic activities.
- A study of Ragnar’s Saga and related accounts.
- Sexuality in the show, from both pagan and Christian perspectives.
- How religion is portrayed in various episodes, including Ragnar’s vision of Odin in the first episode, the events at Uppsala, Floki’s “Heathen fundamentalism,” Christian imagery in France and England, scenes such as the Viking blessing of the crops in Anglo-Saxon England, and Ragnar’s “funeral” at Paris.
- Related to the previous topic, a study of the character of Æthelstan and Anglo-Saxon monasticism in general (at Lindisfarne and elsewhere) would be welcome.
- Representations of women in the show. Viking women such as Lagertha, Siggy, Aslaug, Porunn, Helga, as well as Saxon and French women (such as Judith and Princess Gisla) are all worthy of further study, perhaps contrasting these characters with historical information.
- Sociological studies would be welcome, such as why the show is so popular now (the trailer for Season Four was a hit at San Diego Comic-Con 2015, and has some 850,000 views on YouTube; the show routinely has more than 4 million weekly viewers), and which themes seem to resonate with modern viewers.
The point of this anthology is to view the show for its own merits, understanding that it is a mixture of history, saga literature, fiction, and anachronism, all of which gives it its own unique flavor. Critical essays, rather than merely criticism, are what we seek. Ideally, potential contributors would want to view the upcoming Season Four (premiering in March, 2016) to include aspects of it in their articles, though there are certainly enough topics to begin work now, and to propose subjects of study.
Essays must be in English, fully cited with end notes, and bibliography, all in accordance with the current Chicago Manual of Style. The length of each contribution should be between about 5,000 and 10,000 words, unless there is a good reason that a given essay should be shorter or longer. Please use clear, concise writing.
Peer review will be conducted after the collection is submitted, currently scheduled for September 1, 2016.
Accordingly, the deadline for article submission is June 1, 2016. Submissions before that deadline are, of course, most welcome and helpful.
If contributors wish to include images not in public domain or text excerpts from copyrighted materials requiring written permission to reproduce, they will be expected to obtain such permissions on their own, and pay the required reproduction fees (if needed). McFarland cannot reimburse for this expense. I will need hard copies of each such permission. McFarland also discourages the use of quotations of dialogue from individual episodes, as well as images/screen captures, as these require additional permission/fees from the television network and can delay publication.
Potential contributors should submit a one- to two-page proposal including a potential title, a short description/abstract of the topic(s) for your essay, a brief summary of your background and qualifications, and contact information.
Please email your proposals to me at: trayborn@sbcglobal.net
Thank you for your time and interest, and I look forward to receiving and reading your proposals.
Best wishes,
Tim Rayborn
www.mcfarlandbooks.com
www.timrayborn.com
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
CFP More Middle Ages on Screen? Reconsidering The Reel Middle Ages (A Roundtable) (9/15/2015; ICMS Kalamazoo 5/12-15/2016)
More Middle Ages on Screen? Reconsidering The Reel Middle Ages (A Roundtable)
Sponsored by the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
12-15 May 2016
Proposals due by 15 September 2015
Like many disciplines in the humanities, Medieval Studies is often challenged about its relevance in the contemporary world. One way to respond to these concerns is to not just engage our classes with the historic medieval past of centuries ago but also with the various medieval presents of today that are depicted in medievalisms found in popular culture, especially in film, television programming, and electronic games, the media most familiar to the current generation of students. To do this, medievalists need have the proper tools to help them to access and engage this material. Kevin J. Harty’s The Reel Middle Ages: American, Western and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Asian Films about Medieval Europe, published in 1999, offered a great resource to do this, yet there remains a lot of additional work to be done with regards to assessing the full extent of how the entertainment industries have appropriated and re-presented the Middle Ages for modern audiences.
For example, by limiting his catalog to only feature and television films set in the medieval past, Harty missed the opportunity to introduce his readers to the larger picture of popular medievalisms on screen that includes theatrical shorts, the greater body of televisual material, and electronic games, all depicting some version of the Middle Ages, as well as works that use the medieval anachronistically or as the inspiration for secondary worlds. In addition, Harty’s book covered material produced only up to 1996, and, while the work was reprinted in paperback in 2006, its data has not been updated in almost 20 years despite the proliferation of medievalisms on screen in the late 1990s and early twenty-first century. Studies that have followed Harty do attempt to compensate for some of his omissions, but essential filmographic and bibliographic information, such as that provided by Harty and that should serve as the start of any research inquiry into medievalisms on screen, remains lacking for these areas with the notable exception of Arthurian-themed material, as Arthurian Studies (Harty’s primary discipline and the first to benefit from his efforts) remains the one field of Medieval Studies most interested in cataloging its representations on screen.
In furtherance of the mission of the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages, the goal of this roundtable session is to revisit and expand the ground-breaking work done by Harty by presenting a wider (if not the widest possible) portrait of Medieval Studies on screen by both offering new texts for discussion and reclaiming older ones that have been previously neglected by medievalists. We hope that a greater understanding and appreciation of the complete corpus of medievalisms on screen will benefit our teaching and scholarship and result in more thoughtful reflections on the reception of the medieval past through the contemporary interpretations of Middle Ages most known to the general public.
Presentations will be limited to 10-15 minutes depending on panel size, and the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages asks that accepted presenters submit their completed papers for publication on the Medieval Studies on Screen site (MedievalStudiesonScreen.org) prior to the conference to allow maximum dissemination of their ideas.
Interested individuals should submit, no later than 15 September 2015, (1) an abstract of approximately 500 words, (2) a 500-word biography, and (3) a completed Participant Information Form (accessible at http://wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF) to the organizers at MedievalStudiesonScreen@gmail.com using “More Middle Ages on Screen” as their subject heading.
In planning your proposal, please be advised of the following policies of the Congress:
Sponsored by the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
12-15 May 2016
Proposals due by 15 September 2015
Like many disciplines in the humanities, Medieval Studies is often challenged about its relevance in the contemporary world. One way to respond to these concerns is to not just engage our classes with the historic medieval past of centuries ago but also with the various medieval presents of today that are depicted in medievalisms found in popular culture, especially in film, television programming, and electronic games, the media most familiar to the current generation of students. To do this, medievalists need have the proper tools to help them to access and engage this material. Kevin J. Harty’s The Reel Middle Ages: American, Western and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Asian Films about Medieval Europe, published in 1999, offered a great resource to do this, yet there remains a lot of additional work to be done with regards to assessing the full extent of how the entertainment industries have appropriated and re-presented the Middle Ages for modern audiences.
For example, by limiting his catalog to only feature and television films set in the medieval past, Harty missed the opportunity to introduce his readers to the larger picture of popular medievalisms on screen that includes theatrical shorts, the greater body of televisual material, and electronic games, all depicting some version of the Middle Ages, as well as works that use the medieval anachronistically or as the inspiration for secondary worlds. In addition, Harty’s book covered material produced only up to 1996, and, while the work was reprinted in paperback in 2006, its data has not been updated in almost 20 years despite the proliferation of medievalisms on screen in the late 1990s and early twenty-first century. Studies that have followed Harty do attempt to compensate for some of his omissions, but essential filmographic and bibliographic information, such as that provided by Harty and that should serve as the start of any research inquiry into medievalisms on screen, remains lacking for these areas with the notable exception of Arthurian-themed material, as Arthurian Studies (Harty’s primary discipline and the first to benefit from his efforts) remains the one field of Medieval Studies most interested in cataloging its representations on screen.
In furtherance of the mission of the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages, the goal of this roundtable session is to revisit and expand the ground-breaking work done by Harty by presenting a wider (if not the widest possible) portrait of Medieval Studies on screen by both offering new texts for discussion and reclaiming older ones that have been previously neglected by medievalists. We hope that a greater understanding and appreciation of the complete corpus of medievalisms on screen will benefit our teaching and scholarship and result in more thoughtful reflections on the reception of the medieval past through the contemporary interpretations of Middle Ages most known to the general public.
Presentations will be limited to 10-15 minutes depending on panel size, and the Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages asks that accepted presenters submit their completed papers for publication on the Medieval Studies on Screen site (MedievalStudiesonScreen.org) prior to the conference to allow maximum dissemination of their ideas.
Interested individuals should submit, no later than 15 September 2015, (1) an abstract of approximately 500 words, (2) a 500-word biography, and (3) a completed Participant Information Form (accessible at http://wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF) to the organizers at MedievalStudiesonScreen@gmail.com using “More Middle Ages on Screen” as their subject heading.
In planning your proposal, please be advised of the following policies of the Congress:
- The Congress Committee will schedule a person as a participant (paper presenter, panelist, discussant, workshop leader, demonstration participant, poster presenter, presider, or respondent) in a maximum of three sessions.
- All those working in the field of medieval studies, including graduate students and independent scholars and artists, are eligible to give a paper, if accepted, in any session. Enrolled undergraduate students, however, may give a paper, if accepted, only in the “Papers by Undergraduates” Special Session(s).
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