Category: Medieval
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CFP–Globalizing Joan of Arc: Positioning the Maid in a Transnational Landscape
Call for Papers sponsored by The International Joan of Arc Society/Société Internationale de l’étude de Jeanne d’Arc International Congress on Medieval Studies (ICMS 2020)May 7 to 10, 2020Western Michigan University If Joan of Arc’s story has circulated well beyond its hexagonal borders of origin, it remains strangely entangled with euro-nationalism and white supremacy as indicated…
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Jon Snow’s Piss-poor Defense of Winterfell during “The Long Night”
Removing all shadow of a doubt that Jon Snow indeed Forest Gump’d his way through the Battle of the Bastards, the defense of Winterfell during “The Long Night” episode of Game of Thrones was one of the saddest wastes of resources recorded in medieval or fantasy history. First of all, it’s long been a principle…
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Joan of Arc on Screen: An Annotated Bibliography
Robin Blaetz said it best: “As one of history’s few noted heroines, Joan of Arc’s cinematic incarnations provide a fascinating record of manipulation according to differing historical and cultural demands.” There are far too many Joan of Arc movies to list here, but the most common ones in these papers and books are Joan the Woman…
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Alien 3’s Ripley as Joan of Arc
Anat Zanger identifies Alien 3’s Ellen Ripley as a cinematic Joan of Arc in disguise. After re-watching the film for umpteenth time, I’m not only convinced, but I would like to highlight and humbly augment Zanger’s analysis, as it might explain why I have loved this film for years while so many have derided it.…
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Arthurian Legend on Screen: An Annotated Bibliography
As John Aberth pointed out, “There are more books about Arthurian films than perhaps about any other medieval film genre.” This still holds true today and the same goes for articles. This is arguably where the field of cinematic medievalism go its start. While there are some Arthurian aspects mentioned in the larger Medievalism on…
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Unworthy Knights in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Zelda games are full of medievalisms, typically of the Arthurian variety. The basics of tedious side quests, pontificating hermits, damsels in distress, and a sword in the stone are all there. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the Nintendo 3DS is no exception.
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Book Review: Joan of Arc: La Pucelle
In Joan of Arc: La Pucelle, Craig Taylor tells us that the trial against Joan of Arc “is perhaps the best recorded heresy trial of the middle ages.” This only scratches the surface, as there is so much more in this volume of English translations of documents, transcripts, journal entries, and chronicles related to her…
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Paul B. Sturtevant’s ‘Middle Ages’: Learning a little history from popular culture
Paul B. Sturtevant is tired of quantitative studies that aim to broadcast the public’s ignorance of history. To him, they reduce history to memorizing facts and dates while taking “an explicitly negative position when framing the results,” typically focusing on the small minority of people who failed the test. Sturtevant, an American with a Ph.D.…
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Petrovskaia’s Defense of Medievalism on Screen
Before diving into depictions of Merlin in medieval texts, film, and television, Natalia I. Petrovskaia offers a full-throated promotion and defense of academics tackling popular medievalism instead of the romanticized art and literature from the 19th and 20th centuries. While this field has grown considerably over the past 40 years, Petrovskaia offers some interesting arguments…
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The Twisted Arthurian Legend of Thanos
With The Infinity Gauntlet, an epic, romantic quest began and never stopped both in and out of the comic books. The Marvel Universe lends itself to an Arthurian comparison, and nowhere is that clearer than with Thanos, the most flawed of knights, and his quest for the six Infinity gems.
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Popular Medievalism is Demanding
The Middle Ages are as popular as ever and, as such, we need continuous scholarship on medievalism, especially in movies and television. Case in point, consider Lee Ann Tobin’s research in 1990, surveying students on their familiarity with medieval films. ((Tobin’s entire article is worth reading, as they explore the use of medieval film as…
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Medievalism on Screen: An Annotated Bibliography
Although the field of medievalism on screen is fairly young, there is already a massive amount of work on the topic in English alone. By medievalism, I am referring to recreations or evocations of the Middle Ages, purposefully or unwittingly. By screen, I am referring to movies, television, and short form content. I’m maintaining this…