Studies of texts from the late middle ages to the contemporary moment, together they indicate, broadly, directions both in postmodern studies and studies in medievalism.

This volume builds on recent scholarship on contemporary poetry in relation to medieval literature, focusing on postmodern poets who work with the medieval in a variety of ways. Such recent projects invert or “queer” the usual transactional nature of engagements with older forms of literature, in which readers are asked to exchange some small measure of bewilderment at archaic language or forms for a sense of having experienced a medieval text. The poets under consideration in this volume demand that readers grapple with the ways in which we are still “medieval” – in other words, the ways in which the questions posed by their medieval source material still reverberate and hold relevance for today’s world. They do so by challenging the primacy of present over past, toppling the categories of old and new, and suggesting new interpretive frameworks for contemporary and medieval poetry alike.

This volume builds on recent scholarship on contemporary poetry in relation to medieval literature, focusing on postmodern poets who work with the medieval in a variety of ways. Such recent projects invert or “queer” the usual transactional nature of engagements with older forms of literature, in which readers are asked to exchange some small measure of bewilderment at archaic language or forms for a sense of having experienced a medieval text. The poets under consideration in this volume demand that readers grapple with the ways in which we are still “medieval” – in other words, the ways in which the questions posed by their medieval source material still reverberate and hold relevance for today’s world. They do so by challenging the primacy of present over past, toppling the categories of old and new, and suggesting new interpretive frameworks for contemporary and medieval poetry alike.

Essays on the post-modern reception and interpretation of the middle ages.

From King Arthur and Robin Hood, through to video games and jousting-themed restaurants, medieval culture continues to surround us and has retained a strong influence on literature and culture throughout the ages. This fascinating and illuminating guide is written by two of the leading contemporary scholars of medieval literature, and explores: The influence of medieval cultural concepts on literature and film, including key authors such as Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Mark Twain The continued appeal of medieval cultural figures such as Dante, King Arthur, and Robin Hood The influence of the medieval on such varied disciplines such as politics, music, children’s literature, and art. Contemporary efforts to relive the Middle Ages. Medievalisms: Making the Past in the Present surveys the critical field and sets the boundaries for future study, providing an essential background for literary study from the medieval period through to the twenty-first century.

Pop culture portrayals of medieval and early modern monarchs are rife with tension between authenticity and modern mores, producing anachronisms such as a feminist Queen Isabel (in RTVE’s Isabel) and a lesbian Queen Christina (in The Girl King). This book examines these anachronisms as a dialogue between premodern and postmodern ideas about gender and sexuality, raising questions of intertemporality, the interpretation of history, and the dangers of presentism. Covering a range of famous and lesser-known European monarchs on screen, from Elizabeth I to Muhammad XII of Granada, this book addresses how the lives of powerful women and men have been mythologized in order to appeal to today’s audiences. The contributors interrogate exactly what is at stake in these portrayals; namely, our understanding of premodern rulers, the gender and sexual ideologies they navigated, and those that we navigate today.

'The Year's Work in Medievalism,' volume XVII, is based upon but not restricted to the 2002 proceedings of the annual International Conference on Medievalism, organized by the Director of Conferences of Studies in Medievalism, Gwendolyn Morgan, and, for 2002, Jesse G. Swan and Richard Utz. It contains eleven essays exploring various representations of the medieval from the Renaissance through contemporary times: Hannah Johnson, The Saint in the Photograph: Sister Marie Gabriel and Another New Middle Ages Mike McKeon, The Postmodern Subject in Early Christian Catacomb Painting Anna Kowalcze, Disregarding the Text: Postmodern Medievalisms and the Readings of John Gardner's Grendel Laura Morowitz, 'Une Guerre Sainte Contre l'Academisme:' Louis Courajod, The Louvre, and the Barbaric Middle Ages Sandra Ballif Straubhaar, A Birth Certificate for Sweden, Packaged for Postmoderns: Jan Guillou's Templar Trilogy Susan Rochette-Crawley, Wholly Ghosts: Genre, Postmodern Transubstantiations, and Flannery O'Connor's 'The Enduring Chill' David Lampe, 'The Accuracies of My Impressions:' Mark Twain, Ford Madox Ford, and Michael Crichton Re-Imagine Chivalry Liliana Sikorska, Mapping the Green Man's Territory in Lindsay Clarke's 'The Chymical Wedding ' A. Keith Kelly, Medieval Movie Madness Hailey Haffey, Dualistic Particulars: How Mystical and Metaphysical Literatures Demand Differentiation of Erotic Profanities Alissa Stickler, The (Mid)Evil Nightmare of Yesterday and Tomorrow: Flagg as the Immortal Monster in Stephen King's 'The Eyes of the Dragon and The Stand.'