Medievalism: Key Critical Terms

The discipline of medievalism has produced a great deal of scholarship acknowledging the "makers" of the Middle Ages: those who re-discovered the period from 500 to 1500 by engaging with its cultural works, seeking inspiration from them, or fantasizing about them. Yet such approaches - organized by time period, geography, or theme - often lack an overarching critical framework. This volume aims to provide such a framework, by calling into question the problematic yet commonly accepted vocabulary used in Medievalism Studies. The contributions, by leading scholars in the field, define and exemplify in a lively and accessible style the essential terms used when speaking of the later reception of medieval culture. The terms: Archive, Authenticity, Authority, Christianity, Co-disciplinarity, Continuity, Feast, Genealogy, Gesture, Gothic, Heresy, Humor, Lingua, Love, Memory, Middle, Modernity, Monument, Myth, Play, Presentism, Primitive, Purity, Reenactment, Resonance, Simulacrum, Spectacle, Transfer, Trauma, Troubadour Elizabeth Emery is Professor of French and Graduate Coordinator at Montclair State University (Montclair, NJ, USA); Richard Utz is Chair and Professor of Medievalism Studies in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA, USA). Contributors: Nadia Altschul, Martin Arnold, Kathleen Biddick, William C. Calin, Martha Carlin, Pam Clements, Michael Cramer, Louise D'Arcens, Elizabeth Emery, Elizabeth Fay, Vincent Ferré, Matthew Fisher, Karl Fugelso, Jonathan Hsy, Amy S. Kaufman, Nadia Margolis, David Matthews, Lauryn S. Mayer, Brent Moberly, Kevin Moberly, Gwendolyn Morgan, Laura Morowitz, Kevin D. Murphy, Nils Holger Petersen, Lisa Reilly, Edward Risden, Carol L. Robinson, Juanita Feros Ruys, Tom Shippey, Clare A. Simmons, Zrinka Stahuljak, M. Jane Toswell, Richard Utz, Angela Jane Weisl.

Table of Contents

Making Medievalism: A Critical Overview - Elizabeth Emery and Richard UtzArchive - Matthew FisherAuthenticity - Pamela ClementsAuthority - Gwendolyn MorganChristianity - William CalinCo-Disciplinarity - Jonathan HsyContinuity - Feast - Martha CarlinGenealogy - Zrinka StahuljakGesture - Carol L. RobinsonGothic - Kevin Murphy and Lisa ReillyHeresy - Nadia MargolisHumor - Clare A SimmonsLingua - M J ToswellLove - Juanita Feros RuysMemory - Vincent FerreMiddle - David MatthewsModernity - Tom ShippeyMonument - E L RisdenMyth - Martin ArnoldPlay - Brent Moberly and Kevin MoberlyPresentism - Louise D'ArcensPrimitive - Laura MorowitzPurity - Amy S. KaufmanReenactment - Michael A CramerResonance - Nils Holger PetersenSimulacrum - Lauryn S. MayerSpectacle - Angela Jane WeislTransfer - Nadia AltschulTrauma - Kathleen BiddickTroubadour - Elizabeth Fay