World Medievalism: The Middle Ages in Modern Textual Culture

World Medievalism: The Middle Ages in Modern Textual Culture explores how modern textual cultures engage creatively with the medieval past to understand the global present. It argues that medievalism is a cultural idiom with global reach, and its case studies from the Middle East, France, Southeast Asia, and Indigenous Australia show how it has been perceived as a commonly held past that can be retrieved, reclaimed, or revived in response to global modernity.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 25 November 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press

World Medievalism: The Middle Ages in Modern Textual Culture delves into the captivating ways in which a diverse array of modern textual cultures have persistently engaged creatively with the medieval past, in order to grapple with the complexities of the global present. Through four compelling case studies, spanning the Middle East, France, Southeast Asia, and Indigenous Australia, the book establishes a robust argument that to truly comprehend medievalism as a cultural idiom with a truly global reach, we must cultivate a more nuanced understanding of the diverse ways in which the Middle Ages have been interpreted and symbolized beyond the confines of Europe, as well as within a Europe that has been profoundly shaped by multiculturalism and the global economy.

The case studies presented within this book are approached within a conceptual framework that posits medievalism as a world-disclosing encounter, a transhistorical encounter that empowers the modern subject to grasp the rich tapestry of the past world unveiled in medieval and medievalist texts and objects. The book employs a comprehensive analytical lens, examining literature alongside films, television programs, newspapers and journals, political tracts, as well as a wide range of material and artefactual texts, including photographs, paintings, statues, buildings, rock art, and fossils. While each case study showcases distinctive localised forms of medievalism, when taken together, they shed light on how imperial and global legacies have perpetuated the perception of the medieval period as a shared and retrievable past, one that can be reclaimed, reimagined, or revitalized in response to the rapid changes and uncertainties of global modernity.

In conclusion, World Medievalism: The Middle Ages in Modern Textual Culture offers a profound exploration of the enduring resonance of the medieval past in contemporary cultural expressions. Through its insightful case studies and conceptual framework, the book provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of medievalism as a global phenomenon, highlighting the ways in which modern textual cultures continue to engage with the medieval past in order to shape our understanding of the world in which we live.

Weight: 260g
Dimension: 204 x 135 x 14 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780198825951