Medieval Studies at the Movies Returns

The Society is pleased to announce the return of Medieval Studies at the Movies.

Michael Torregrossa
Blog Editor/Listserv Moderator
Co-Founder

SyFy February 2011 Listings

The following represent this month's medieval-themed listings for SyFy. Of note, SyFy continues, after a one week hiatus, its run of season 3 of BB1's Merlin in February and reintroduces Invasion, which includes an underdeveloped Robin Hood theme. Also, Highlander: The Series airs haphazardly in various late-night slots.




THURS, 3 FEB
01:00 PM
Destination Truth--Issie/Icelandic Elves (details)


FRI, 4 FEB
09:30 AM
Movie--Merlin And The War Of The Dragons



10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3--Gwaine


SAT, 5 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3--Gwaine


MON, 7 FEB
10:30 AM
Movie--Dragon Sword
12:30 PM
Movie--Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath Of The Dragon God


THURS, 10 FEB
09:00 PM
Movie--Eragon



11:00 PM
Syfy Original Movie--Fire And Ice




FRI, 11 FEB
01:00 AM
Highlander--The Valkyrie
06:00 PM
Movie--Eragon
10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3--The Crystal Cave


SAT, 12 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3--The Crystal Cave


WEDNES, 16 FEB
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie--Book Of Beasts, The




THURS, 17 FEB
03:00 AM
Movie--Bram Stoker's Way Of The Vampire (review)
01:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International--Frankenstein's Castle
02:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International (season 1.5)--Larnach Castle


FRI, 18 FEB
10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3--The Changeling


SAT, 19 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3--The Changeling


SUN, 20 FEB
10:00 AM
Movie--Highlander: The Source
02:00 PM
Movie--In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (Wikipedia)




TUES, 22 FEB
Feb 22
08:00 AM
Invasion(series)--Origin Of Species
09:00 AM
Invasion(series)--Us Or Them
10:00 AM
Invasion(series)--Power
11:00 AM
Invasion(series)--Redemption
12:00 PM
Invasion(series)--All God's Creatures


FRI, 25 FEB
10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3--The Castle Of Fyrien


SAT, 26 FEB
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3--The Castle Of Fyrien
09:30 AM
Invasion(series)--Pilot


MON, 28 FEB
08:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie--Dark Relic (review)

Chiller Feb. 2011 Listings

The following represent this month's medieval-themed listings for Chiller. I am not familiar (yet) with Beast Legends, but these three episodes seem to be medieval in theme. My apologies if that is not the case.


The network is also airing the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer this month, but there are no details posted regarding which episodes will air when.



SUN, 6 FEB

10:00 AM
Beast Legends Dragon
01:00 PM
Beast Legends Dragon


SUN, 20 FEB
10:00 AM
Beast Legends Griffin
01:00 PM
Beast Legends Griffin


SUN, 27 FEB
10:00 AM
Beast Legends Wild Man
01:00 PM
Beast Legends Wild Man

Kalamazoo Update

The program for Kalamazoo is now live. Our session is scheduled for Saturday at 3:30 PM. Details as follows:

Session 478--Fetzer 2040
Twenty-First Century Medievalism: Re-envisioning the Medieval in the Contemporary World (A Roundtable)
Sponsor: Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages
Presider: Carl James Grindley, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College
Siegfried the Volk-Song: Examining the Interpretations of Siegfried the DragonSlayer and the Making of a National History
Peter H. Johnsson, San Francisco State Univ.
Analysis of Arthurian Film Reviews
Laurie Rizzo, Univ. of Delaware
Beowulf in the Twenty-First Century
Suanna H. Davis, Houston Community College: Central
I Want to Believe: Finding the Medieval in The X-Files
Rebecca Johnson, Princeton Univ.

Listserv Updates

It is with deep regret that I write to inform readers of the demise of the following listservs sponsored by the Society: The Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages Discussion List, The Medieval Studies at the Movies Discussion List and The Medieval Comics Project Discussion List. The three have been disbanded due to lack of interest by the members. Archives for these lists will remain online for the time being, but further items of interest on these topics can be found instead on the various blogs currently sponsored by the Society, including Studies of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages and The Medieval Comics Project Blog.

Michael A. Torregrossa
Blog and Listserv Editor
Co-Founder

Comics Get Medieval 2011 Update (Cross-Posted)

A belated update on the status of The Comics Get Medieval 2011 sessions for the upcoming Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association's annual meeting this spring:

The session has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

Please consider submitting a proposal for The Comics Get Medieval 2012 sessions to convene at PCA/ACA in Boston and (pending approval) at Kalamazoo. 2012 is the 75th anniversary of Prince Valiant, and it would be great to make ourselves visible as we commemorate this landmark event.

Michael Torregrossa

Blog and Listserv Editor
Co-Founder

King Arthur Forever Returns

The Society is pleased to announce the relaunch of KingArthurForever.org as a blog dedicated to study and debate of the representations of the Matter of Britain in post-medieval popular culture produced from the close of the Middle Ages through tomorrow.

New Study on Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles

One Earth, One People: The Mythopoeic Fantasy Series of Ursula K. Le Guin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L’Engle and Orson Scott Card
Marek Oziewicz

Series Editors Donald E. Palumbo and C.W. Sullivan III
Foreword by Brian Attebery

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-3135-9
Ebook ISBN: (isbn not yet available)
notes, bibliography, index
271pp. softcover 2008

Description
This work presents the genre of mythopoeic fantasy from a holistic perspective, arguing that this central genre of fantasy literature is largely misunderstood as a result of decades of incomplete and reductionist literary studies. The author asserts that mythopoeic fantasy is not only the most complete literary expression of a worldview based on the existence of supernatural or spiritual powers but that the genre is in a unique position to transform social consciousness with a renewed emphasis on anticipating the future. The author lays out theoretical foundations for his argument in the first four chapters and then demonstrates how the works of fantasy authors Ursula K. LeGuin, Lloyd Alexander, Madeleine L’Engle, and Orson Scott Card exemplify his argument in the remaining four chapters.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments      v
Foreword by Brian Attebery      1
Introduction      3

1. The Confusion over Fantasy and the Confusions of the Theoretical Era      13
2. Reductionist and Holistic Criticisms in a Battle of Worldviews      39
3. Mythopoeic Fantasy as a Modern Genre      65
4. Twentieth-Century Rehabilitation of Myth and the Search for a New Story      91
5. Rediscovering Harmony: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Sequence (1964–2001)      118
6. Bridging the Past with the Future: Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles (1964–1973)      144
7. Integrating Science and Spirituality: Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet (1962–1986)      171
8. Reconnecting with Nature: Orson Scott Card’s Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003)      198

Conclusion      225
Chapter Notes      229
Works Cited      245
Index      259


About the Author
Marek Oziewicz is assistant professor of literature and director of the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Fiction at the Institute of English Studies, University of Wroclaw in Poland.
Donald E. Palumbo is a professor of English at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He lives in Greenville. C.W. Sullivan III is in the English department at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

 Award Winner
Winner, Mythopoeic Scholarship Award in Myth and Fantasy Studies--The Mythopoeic Society

A Hard Day's Knight by Simon Green

The latest in Simon Green's Nightside series is Arthurian in content.

Here are the details from publisher Ace Books:


A Hard Day's Knight
Simon R. Green - Author

$25.95
Hardcover | 9.25 x 6.25in | 304 pages | ISBN 9780441019700 | 04 Jan 2011 | Ace | 18 - AND UP

John Taylor is a P.I. with a special talent for finding lost things in the dark and secret center of London known as the Nightside. He's also the reluctant owner of a very special-and dangerous-weapon. Excalibur, the legendary sword. To find out why he was chosen to wield it, John must consult the Last Defenders of Camelot, a group of knights who dwell in a place that some find more frightening than the Nightside.

London Proper. It's been years since John's been back-and there are good reasons for that.


Amazon.com has additional information from Publisher's Weekly. Apparently the series has always had some Arthurian content, but this seems the most Arthurian (I think).

Private investigator John Taylor returns in the 12th novel (after 2010's The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny) of the Nightside, "the dark, secret, brooding heart of London." Having killed the former Walker, the voice of the Authorities, Taylor's now the closet thing the Nightside has to a leader. When the sword Excalibur shows up in the mail, he must return to London Proper to consult with the descendants of the Knights of the Round Table. The blood runs red (and golden) as he teams up with King Arthur and tangles with Merlin, elven royalty, traitor knights, sons of the devil, the Lady of the Lake, and various creatively named denizens of the Nightside. Taylor's irrepressible sarcasm and a twisted take on quotidian scenes compensate for a few too many solemn, self-important pronouncements and evil-overlord lectures. (Jan.) 

The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card's latest novel The Lost Gate, book one of the Mither Mages trilogy, features a number of figures from Norse mythology. The publisher's website has sketchy information on the plot (after the jump), but the trailer for the book (below) is told from Loki's perspective.

Chiller January 2011 Listings

The following represent this month's medieval-themed listings for Chiller. Of note are 3 mini-marathons of Forever Knight and multiple airings of The Forsaken. Both feature vampires from the Middle Ages and their attempts to survive in the twentieth century.


MON., 3 JAN
09:00 AM
Forever Knight The Code
10:00 AM
Forever Knight Curiouser & Curiouser
11:00 AM
Forever Knight Near Death
12:00 PM
Forever Knight Baby Baby
01:00 PM
Forever Knight Close Call
02:00 PM
Forever Knight Crazy Love




FRI., 14 JAN
12:00 PM
Dark Realm Castle Keep


TUES., 18 JAN
08:00 PM
Movie The Forsaken


WEDNES., 19 JAN
12:00 AM
Movie The Forsaken



09:00 AM
Forever Knight Dark Knight
10:00 AM
Forever Knight Dark Knight: The Second Chapter
11:00 AM
Forever Knight For I Have Sinned
12:00 PM
Forever Knight Last Act
01:00 PM
Forever Knight Dance By The Light Of The Moon
02:00 PM
Forever Knight Dying To Know You


SUN., 23 JAN
09:00 AM
Special Cracking The Da Vinci Code
12:00 PM
Special Cracking The Da Vinci Code


THURS., 27 JAN
10:00 PM
Movie The Forsaken


FRI., 28 JAN
02:00 AM
Movie The Forsaken


SAT., 29 JAN
08:00 AM
Forever Knight False Witness
09:00 AM
Forever Knight Cherry Blossoms
10:00 AM
Forever Knight I Will Repay
11:00 AM
Forever Knight Dead Air
12:00 PM
Forever Knight Hunters
01:00 PM
Forever Knight Dead Issue


Also airing this month: Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Poltergeist: The Legacy.

SyFy Listings for January 2011

Here are the relevant listings for SyFy for January 2011. Note that the third season of BBC1's Merlin premieres this month.

SAT. 1 JAN
11:00 AM
The Twilight Zone -- A Short Drink From A Certain Fountain


WEDNES., 5 JAN
10:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International -- Witches Castle
09:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International, Season 2.9 -- Hamlet's Castle: Denmark
11:00 PM
Ghost Hunters International, Season 2.9 -- Hamlet's Castle: Denmark


THURS., 6 JAN
12:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International -- The Spirit Of Robin Hood


FRI., 7 JAN
08:30 AM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  Beauty And The Beast - Part 1
09:30 AM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  Beauty And The Beast - Part 2
10:30 AM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  The Witchfinder
11:30 AM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  The Sins Of The Father
12:30 PM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  The Lady Of The Lake
01:30 PM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  Sweet Dreams
02:30 PM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  The Witch's Quickening
03:30 PM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  The Fires Of Idirsholas
04:30 PM
Merlin, Season 2(series)  The Last Dragonlord
10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3 --  The Tears Of Uther Pendragon - Part 1


SAT., 8 JAN
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3 -- The Tears Of Uther Pendragon - Part 1
03:00 AM
Movie  -- Merlin And The War Of The Dragons


FRI., 14 JAN
10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3 -- The Tears Of Uther Pendragon - Part 2
11:00 PM
Stargate SG-1 -- Arthur's Mantle


SAT., 15 JAN
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3 -- The Tears Of Uther Pendragon - Part 2
01:00 AM
Stargate SG-1 -- Crusade


SUN., 16 JAN
07:00 PM
Movie -- Underworld
09:30 PM
Movie -- Underworld: Evolution


MON., 17 JAN
4:30 PM
Movie -- Underworld
07:00 PM
Movie -- Underworld: Evolution


WEDNES., 19 JAN
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie -- Book Of Beasts, The


FRI., 21 JAN
10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3 -- Goblin's Gold


SAT., 22 JAN
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3 -- Goblin's Gold
01:00 AM
Stargate SG-1 -- Camelot


SUN., 23 JAN
11:30 AM
Movie -- In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
02:00 PM
Movie -- Eragon


MON., 24 JAN
12:00 AM
Movie -- Highlander: The Source
10:00 AM
Movie -- Eragon


FRI., 28 JAN
10:00 PM
Merlin, Season 3 -- Gwaine


SAT., 29 JAN
12:00 AM
Merlin, Season 3 -- Gwaine
03:00 AM
Movie -- Rise Of The Gargoyles




Also airing this month: Highlander.

Anglo-Saxon Culture and the Modern Imagination -- New from Boydell & Brewer

Anglo-Saxon Culture and the Modern Imagination 
Edited by David Clark and Nicholas Perkins

Details
First Published: 21 Oct 2010
13 Digit ISBN: 9781843842514
Pages: 302
Size: 23.4 x 15.6
Binding: Hardback
Imprint: D.S.Brewer
Series: Medievalism
Subject: Medieval Literature
BIC Class: DSBB

Britain's pre-Conquest past and its culture continues to fascinate modern writers and artists. From Henry Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader to Seamus Heaney's Beowulf, and from high modernism to the musclebound heroes of comic book and Hollywood, Anglo-Saxon England has been a powerful and often unexpected source of inspiration, antagonism, and reflection. The essays here engage with the ways in which the Anglo-Saxons and their literature have been received, confronted, and re-envisioned in the modern imagination. They offer fresh insights on established figures, such as W.H. Auden, J.R.R. Tolkien, and David Jones, and on contemporary writers such as Geoffrey Hill, Peter Reading, P.D. James, and Heaney. They explore the interaction between text, image and landscape in medieval and modern books, the recasting of mythic figures such as Wayland Smith, and the metamorphosis of Beowulf into Grendel - as a novel and as grand opera. The early medieval emerges not simply as a site of nostalgia or anxiety in modern revisions, but instead provides a vital arena for creativity, pleasure, and artistic experiment.


Contents (from WorldCAT):

Introduction / Nicholas Perkins and David Clark --
From Heorot to Hollywood : Beowulf in its third millennium / Chris Jones --
Priming the poets : the making of Henry Sweet's Anglo-Saxon reader / Mark Atherton --
Owed to both sides : W.H. Auden's double debt to the literature of the North / Heather O'Donoghue --
Writing for an Anglo-Saxon audience in the twentieth century : J.R.R. Tolkien's Old English chronicles / Maria Artamonova --
Wounded men and wounded trees : David Jones and the Anglo-Saxon culture tangle / Anna Johnson --
Basil Bunting, Briggflatts, Lindisfarne, and Anglo-Saxon interlace / Clare A. Lees --
Boom : seeing Beowulf in pictures and print / Siân Echard --
Window in the wall : looking for grand opera in John Gardner's Grendel / Allen J. Frantzen --
Re-placing masculinity : the DC Comics Beowulf series and its context, 1975-6 / Catherine A.M. Clarke --
P.D. James reads Beowulf / John Halbrooks --
Ban Welondes : Wayland Smith in popular culture / Maria Sachiko Cecire --
Overlord of the M5 : the superlative structure of sovereignty in Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns / Hannah J. Crawforth --
The absent Anglo-Saxon past in Ted Hughes's Elmet / Joshua Davies --
Resurrecting Saxon things : Peter Reading, "species decline", and Old English poetry / Rebecca Anne Barr.

Thor Movie Trailer

Marvel has recently released the trailer for the upcoming Thor film. It can be viewed at The Medieval Comics Project Blog.

Coming Soon from McFarland: Harty's Vikings on Film

The Vikings on Film: Essays on Depictions of the Nordic Middle Ages 
Edited by Kevin J. Harty
ISBN 978-0-7864-6044-1
illustrations, filmography, bibliography, index
softcover (7 x 10) 2011
Price: $38.00

Not Yet Published, Available Spring/Summer 2011

Description
Factual and fanciful tales of the Nordic warriors known as Vikings have proven irresistible to filmmakers for nearly a century. Diverse, prominent actors from Kirk Douglas, Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier to Tim Robbins and John Cleese, and noted directors, including Richard Fleischer, Clive Donner and Terry Jones, have all lent their talents to Viking-related films. These fourteen essays on films dealing with the Viking era discuss American, British and European productions. Analyzed in detail are such films as The Vikings (1958), The Long Ships (1964), Alfred the Great (1969), Erik the Viking (1989) and Outlander (2008), as well as a pair of comic-strip adaptations, the live-action Prince Valiant (1997) and the animated Asterix and the Vikings (2006). A comprehensive filmography is also included.

About the Author
Kevin J. Harty is professor and chair of English at La Salle University in Philadelphia and associate editor of Arthuriana, the official journal of the North American Branch of the International Arthurian Society, of which he is the vice president. He is the author or editor of eleven books on film and medieval studies.

Getting Medieval with the Doctor

The following appear in a new book from Kitsune Books:

Burdge, Anthony S. “The Professor’s Lessons for the Doctor: The Doctor’s Sub-Creative Journey Toward Middle-earth.” In The Mythological Dimensions of Doctor Who. Eds. Anthony S. Burdge, Jessica Burke, and Kristine Larsen. Crawfordville, FL: Kitsune Books, 2010. Pp. 65-84.

Burke, Jessica. “Doctor Who and the Valkyrie Tradition, Part 2: Goddesses, Battle-demons, Witches, & Wives.” In The Mythological Dimensions of Doctor Who. Eds. Anthony S. Burdge, Jessica Burke, and Kristine Larsen. Crawfordville, FL: Kitsune Books, 2010. Pp. 140-83.

Larsen, Kristine. “Doctor Who and the Valkyrie Tradition Part 1: The Valiant Child and the Bad Wolf.” In The Mythological Dimensions of Doctor Who. Eds. Anthony S. Burdge, Jessica Burke, and Kristine Larsen. Crawfordville, FL: Kitsune Books, 2010. Pp. 120-39.

Syfy December 2010 Listings

Here are this month's medieval-themed listings for Syfy:


MON, 6 DEC
09:00 PM
Movie
National Treasure


THURS., 9 DEC
02:00 AM
Stargate SG-1
Avalon - Pt 1


FRI, 10 DEC
02:00 AM
Stargate SG-1
Avalon - Pt 2

09:00 AM
Movie
Merlin - Part One
11:00 AM
Movie
Merlin - Part Two


SUN, 12 DEC
06:00 PM
Movie
Eragon
08:00 PM
Movie
Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian
11:00 PM
Movie
In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale


MON, 13 DEC
03:30 AM
Syfy Original Movie
Grendel

08:00 AM
Merlin
The Dragon's Call
09:00 AM
Merlin
Valiant
10:00 AM
Merlin
The Mark Of Nimueh
11:00 AM
Merlin
The Poison Chalice
12:00 PM
Merlin
Lancelot
01:00 PM
Merlin
A Remedy To Cure All Ills
02:00 PM
Merlin
The Gates Of Avalon
03:00 PM
Merlin
The Beginning Of The End


TUES, 14 DEC
08:30 AM
Joan Of Arcadia
Do The Math
09:30 AM
Joan Of Arcadia
Anonymous
10:30 AM
Joan Of Arcadia
Vanity, Thy Name Is Human
11:30 AM
Joan Of Arcadia
The Gift
12:30 PM
Joan Of Arcadia
Silence
01:30 PM
Joan Of Arcadia
Only Connect
02:30 PM
Joan Of Arcadia
Out Of Sight
03:30 PM
Joan Of Arcadia
Back To The Garden


THURS, 16 DEC
11:30 PM
Movie
Highlander: The Source


FRI, 17 DEC
03:00 AM
Syfy Original Movie
Dragon Storm


WEDNES, 22 DEC
11:00 AM
Ghost Hunters International
The Spirit Of Robin Hood


THURS, 23 DEC
08:00 PM
Movie Marathon
Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian


FRI, 24 DEC
01:30 AM
Movie Marathon
Chronicles Of Narnia, The: Prince Caspian


SUN, 26DEC
08:00 PM
Movie
National Treasure


MON, 27 DEC
05:00 PM
Movie
National Treasure


Also airing: Highlander and Warehouse 13.

Chiller December 2010 Listings

Here are this month's medieval-themed offerings from Chiller:


THURS., 2 DEC
09:00 AM
Forever Knight Beyond The Law
10:00 AM
Forever Knight The Fix
11:00 AM
Forever Knight Be My Valentine
12:00 PM
Forever Knight The Fire Inside
01:00 PM
Forever Knight Blood Money
02:00 PM
Forever Knight Partners Of The Month


TUES, 14 DEC
11:00 AM
Dark Realm Castle Keep
10:00 PM
Movie The Forsaken [A vampire film featuring vampires that originate during the First Crusade. More details at Wikipedia.]


WEDNES, 15 DEC
02:00 AM
Movie The Forsaken


FRI, 17 DEC
06:00 AM
The Twilight Zone The Last Defender Of Camelot [Based on the short story be Roger Zelazny.]
03:00 PM
The Twilight Zone The Last Defender Of Camelot


SUN, 19 DEC
09:00 AM
Special Illuminating Angels And Demons
12:00 PM
Special Illuminating Angels And Demons


MON, 27 DEC
10:00 PM
Movie The Forsaken


TUES, 27 DEC
02:00 AM
Movie The Forsaken

CFP: Medieval Film/TV/Electronic Games (12/31/10; Plymouth State Medieval and Renaissance Forum 4/14-16/11)

The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages invites paper proposals to round out a panel devoted to the topic of medievalism in film, TV, and/or electronic games for the 2011 Plymouth State Medieval and Renaissance Forum to be held at Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire, from 15-16 April 2011. Please submit paper proposals to the Conference Committee at Popular.Culture.and.the.Middle.Ages@gmail.com by 31 December 2010.

Michael A. Torregrossa

Co-Founder

Blog Moderator

Listserv Moderator

The Virtual Society for the Study of Popular Culture and the Middle Ages

Remaking the Middle Ages--New from McFarland

Here's another recent book from McFarland. My apologies for not posting on it sooner. (I'm usually the most current when it comes to movie medievalism, and I'm not sure when it first appeared in their online catalog, as it is not linked to their "Medieval Studies" list.) Its author, Andrew Elliott, was a presenter at our medieval TV panels in 2007 and does interesting work on filmic and televisual medievalisms, and, besides the book, he also has an essay on medieval themes in the Monk television series in the collection Monk and Philosophy (Open Court, 2010) and reviewed Martha Driver and Sid Ray's collection Shakespeare and the Middle Ages: Essays on the Performance and Adaptation of the Plays with Medieval Sources or Settings for the next number of Arthuriana. In addition, Elliott has an essay on Asterix and the Vikings in Kevin J. Harty's forthcoming collection  Reel Vikings: Cinematic Depictions of Medieval Scandinavia.

Michael



Remaking the Middle Ages: The Methods of Cinema and History in Portraying the Medieval World
Andrew B.R. Elliott

ISBN 978-0-7864-4624-7
glossary, notes, bibliography, filmography, index
286pp. softcover 2011
Price: $38.00

Description

Proposing a fresh theoretical approach to the study of cinematic portrayals of the Middle Ages, this book uses both semiotics and historiography to demonstrate how contemporary filmmakers have attempted to recreate the past in a way that, while largely imagined, is also logical, meaningful, and as truthful as possible. Carrying out this critical approach, the author analyzes a wide range of films depicting the Middle Ages, arguing that most of these films either reflect the past through a series of visual signs (a concept he has called "iconic recreation") or by comparing the past to a modern equivalent (called "paradigmatic representation").


Table of Contents

Acknowledgments      ix
Preface      1

PART I : PROBLEMS
1. History, Historiography and Film      9
2. “One Big Medieval Mess”: Accessing the Middle Ages      35

PART II : PEOPLE
3. When Knights Were Bold: Those Who Fight      53
4. The Power and the Glory: Those Who Rule      83
5. Clergy and Saints: Those Who Pray      113
6. …Everybody Not Sitting on a Cushion: Those Who Work      146

PART III : WORLDS
7. Constructing Medieval Worlds: Conventions, Inventions and Images      177
8. Guides to the Medieval Worlds      192
9. Authenticity and Accuracy in Medieval Worlds      206

Glossary      223
Notes      229
Bibliography      257
Filmography      269
Index      273

About the Author
Andrew B.R. Elliott is a senior lecturer in media and cultural studies at the University of Lincoln in the UK. He has published articles and essays on a wide range of topics and is a contributor to a television documentary on the "real" King Arthur.