| Description
| The Medieval Period can be defined broadly as that period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the 15th century Italian Renaissance – a dark time, if one is to believe the men of the Renaissance, in need of light, knowledge, modernization. Yet the stories of these dark ages – of Arthur and his knights, the Holy Grail, dragons and princesses – continue to be retold and enjoyed in modern books and films. This course will examine the paradoxical phenomenon of modern medievalism, looking at the varied ways the modern West has borrowed, celebrated, and rewritten its medieval past, a culture strangely as alive now as it was a thousand years ago. We will consider, too, how western medieval stories and images are also being cleverly adapted and transformed in modern Japanese pop culture by anime and manga artists.
|
|---|