The Cambridge Companion to Medievalism

An introduction to medievalism offering a balance of accessibility and sophistication, with comprehensive overviews as well as detailed case studies.

Louise D'Arcens (Edited by)

9781107086715, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 March 2016

256 pages, 16 b/w illus.
23.7 x 15.1 x 1.7 cm, 0.52 kg

'A valuable addition to the Cambridge Companions series. Its paperback price puts it within the reach of most students, and its range and the quality … makes it a desirable addition to the shelves of any medievalist scholar. It is to be hoped that it will inspire fuller explorations of the countless intriguing medievalist works it surveys.' David Clark, The Medieval Review

Medievalism - the creative interpretation or recreation of the European Middle Ages - has had a major presence in the cultural memory of the modern West, and has grown in scale to become a global phenomenon. Countless examples across aesthetic, material and political domains reveal that the medieval period has long provided a fund of images and ideas that have been vital to defining 'the modern'. Bringing together local, national and global examples and tracing medievalism's unpredictable course from early modern poetry to contemporary digital culture, this authoritative Companion offers a panoramic view of the historical, aesthetic, ideological and conceptual dimensions of this phenomenon. It showcases a range of critical positions and approaches to discussing medievalism, from more 'traditional' historicist and close-reading practices through to theoretically engaged methods. It also acquaints readers with key terms and provides them with a sophisticated conceptual vocabulary for discussing the medieval afterlife in the modern.

Introduction: medievalism: scope and complexity Louise D'Arcens
1. Medievalism in British poetry Chris Jones
2. Medievalism and architecture John M. Ganim
3. Medievalism and cinema Bettina Bildhauer
4. Musical medievalism and the harmony of the spheres Helen Dell
5. Participatory medievalism, digital gaming, and role playing Daniel T. Kline
6. Early modern medievalism Mike Rodman Jones
7. Romantic medievalism Clare A. Simmons
8. Academic medievalism and nationalism Richard Utz
9. Medievalism and the ideology of war Andrew Lynch
10. Medievalism in Spanish America after independence Nadia Altschul
11. Neomedievalism and international relations Bruce Holsinger
12. Global medievalism and translation Candace Barrington
13. Medievalism and theories of temporality Stephanie Trigg
14. Queer medievalisms: a case study of Monty Python and the Holy Grail Tison Pugh.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB], Medieval history [HBLC1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]