Medievalism as Cultural Practice

The Middle Ages seem to hold a special fascination, not only for historians or other scholars. In many areas of contemporary popular culture one can come across artworks or practices that engage with the Middle Ages. Or rather, with an idea of the Middle Ages – because this -medievalism”, as it is called, does not necessarily stand the test of historical accuracy, nor does it necessarily intend to do so (in the lingo of postmodern theory, one may consider this medievalism as an example of what Jean Baudrillard called a -simulacrum” – a copy of something without an original). In this seminar, we will encounter different versions of medievalism: in literature (of course, we cannot do a course on medievalism without looking at representative works of high fantasy – you may expect the usual suspects by Tolkien and Martin here :-)) and – most importantly – in various forms of cultural practice: role play, LARP, cosplay, re-enactment, computer games (e.g. Dragon Age), music (e.g. medieval-metal crossovers such as In Extremo, Subway to Sally, Haggard, Nightwish, Faun etc.), or film, including transnational forms of medievalism (e.g. allusions to samurai culture). True to its title, this course will approach its topic not on an entirely theoretical basis, but will include practice sessions as well as two excursions (one to the RingCon at Bonn on 18 October, one to a Medieval Market at Stadt Blankenburg on 17 November ). Therefore, after an introductory session of 90 minutes, this course will be taught in 3-hour units, in a two-week rota – plus the excursions. Students will be expected to take part in both excursions (so keep 18 October and 17 November in your diary if you wish to participate) and to be ready to participate actively in the practical sessions. As this course needs a wee bit of planning in advance, students with a sincere interest in participating are asked to consult the moodle page of this course (you find it under the courses of Fakultät I/Anglistik/Anglistik: Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft; it should be accessible without a special password - please let me know if you encounter any problems) and to contact the instructor via e-mail in advance. In addition to registering with LSF, please inform your instructor about your major interests and suggest possible expert session topics. I will track the development of the course preparation on the moodle site once it is available. Participants will be expected to be familiar with the high fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit or, ideally both) and G.R.R. Martin (ideally the existing volumes of A Song of Ice and Fire, but at least the first four seasons of its TV adaptation - in the latter case, do not complain about spoilers, please), which will be the basis for the discussion of literary manifestations of contemporary medievalism. For the cultural practices, a list of possible options will be provided on the moodle page for this course, which will be openly accessible during the registration period. However, this list will just contain some suggestions, and I strongly encourage interested students to make their own suggestions, especially if they have an expertise in some of the topics that are listed in the moodle outline. Anglistik - Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft Studierende aus den alten Lehramtsstudiengängen müssen die Zwischenprüfung absolviert haben, um am Kurs teilnehmen zu können. 2 LP/3 LP SL: regular and active participation in class and in the excursions; expert session on a topic of your choice (2-3 people can form an expert group; details will be specified either in the first session or before that) – depending on the group size, maybe another short assignment will be added 5 LP: see 2 LP/ 3 LP SL, PLUS written elaboration of your expert topic of 2000-3000 words. 3 LP PL and 7 LP: see 2 LP/ 3 LP, PLUS written academic term paper of 4.000 words on a course-related topic Universität Siegen WiSe 2014/15 Univ.-Prof. Dr. Müller Anja