Medievalisms in a Global Age

by Angela Jane Weisl (Editor)

Discusses contemporary medievalism in studies ranging from Brazil to
West Africa, from Manila to New York.Across the world, revivals of medieval practices,
images, and tales flourish as never before. The essays collected here, informed by
approaches from Global Studies and the critical discourse on the concept of a
"e;Global Middle Ages"e;, explore the many facets of contemporary
post-colonial responses to the enforced dissemination of Western medievalisms,
attempts to retrieve pre-modern cultural traditions that were interrupted by colonialism,
the tentative forging of a global "e;medieval"e; imaginary from the world's
repository of magical tales and figures, and the deployment across borders of medieval
imagery for political purposes. The volume is divided into two sections, dealing with
"e;Local Spaces"e; and "e;Global Geographies"e;. The
contributions in the first consider a variety of medievalisms tied to particular places
across a broad geography, but as part of a larger transnational medievalist dynamic. Those
in the second focus on explicitly globalist medievalist phenomena whether concerning the
projection of a particular medievalist trope across borders or the integration of
"e;medieval"e; pasts from different parts of the globe in a contemporary
incarnation of medievalism. A wide range of topics are addressed, from Japanese manga and
Arthurian tales to The O-Trilogy of Maurice Gee, Camus, and Dungeons and Dragons.

282 pages, Hardcover

Published July 9, 2024