The talk will discuss how a neo-medieval aesthetic in the fantasy genre leads to an imaginary medieval past which operates on the grounds of nostalgia and myth.
The show Game of Thrones operates on medievalist fantasy elements which are grafted onto a long tradition of appropriating the past and using it as an imaginary canvas. Investigation into aspects of femininity in conjunction with bestiality on the one hand and orientalism on the other explain the ways in which cultural and historical appropriation work. Looking at the mythical dimensions of the medieval narratives Mélusine and Duke Ernst, we can see how elements concerning the conjunction of femininity and bestiality and orientalism are deployed again and again in medievalist fantasies.
Because medievalist fantasy is not automatically a purely creative preoccupation with the past, it needs our critical attention. Reminding the audience of Umberto Eco’s as well as J.R.R. Tolkien’s view on medievalism, Racha Kirakosian – in light of politicised forms of the preoccupation with the medieval past – calls for critical medievalism.
The talk is given by Prof. Dr. Racha Kirakosian is from The Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg and her work is located at the intersection of women’s history, text culture and religion in the Middle Ages. Her publications include studies on medieval German mysticism, female sanctity and medieval law. Her doctoral thesisSchrift- und Schreibmystik – Christina von Hane deals with the biography of a thirteenth-century Premonstratensian nun.
