Medieval History
Romancing History: Interrogating the Crossroads of Medieval Genres
International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan
13-16 May 2010
In a recent companion article to Arthurian romance, W.R.J Barron
spends nearly two-thirds of his essay discussing medieval texts that
identify themselves as histories. This approach is not surprising,
given the fluidity of medieval romance?s generic identity. Scholars
have long noted the overlap between medieval romance and history,
observing, as Judith Weiss does, that wealthy patrons frequently took
a simultaneous interest in the two modes; further, chronicles and
romances often coincided in their contents and styles, such that
romances reinterpreted historical events while histories romanticized
them. To some extent, critics argue, any distinction between romance
and history is an anachronistic one imposed retroactively by the
divisions modern scholars see between their own fields of study.
The session will seek to explore various instances of the intertwined
relationship between history and romance by investigating the ways
these modes overlap and interact in medieval texts. Participants may
choose to extend the discussion by examining the socio-cultural
reasons underlying the appropriation of historical events and figures
by romance. What late-medieval cultural work is accomplished by a
Middle English romance that recounts the story of an Anglo-Saxon king
or one who ruled only a century before? Conversely, papers may focus
on the use of romance content, form, and style in ostensibly factual
chronicle accounts. What purpose might a chronicler like Benoit de
Sainte-Maure accomplish by incorporating aspects of romance into
episodes of a history? Ideally this session will generate useful
work on the medieval uses of these flexible generic categories.
Please submit 250-word proposals to Elizabeth Williamsen at
[email protected] by September 15, 2009. Please also include the
Congress participant information sheet available at
http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF .
*********************
Elizabeth Williamsen, Ph.D.
Visiting Lecturer
Department of English
Indiana University
- Cfp: Medieval Romance Society
Posted on behalf: ----- The Medieval Romance Society has proposed 2 sessions for Kalamazoo 2010. The sessions are entitled ?Once Upon a Time:? Romance Temporalities, which explores the uses of time within medieval romance, and Temporal Touching: Medieval...
- 51st International Congress On Medieval Studies May 12-15, 2016, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
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- Medieval Romance Society
The Medieval Romance Society still has an opening in the following session at the ICMS in Kalamazoo, May 13-16, 2010: ?Once Upon a Time:? Romance Temporalities Critics have long acknowledged the ?once upon a time? trope at work in medieval romance, but...
- Call For Papers: Current Research Trends In Epic Studies
Call for papers -- please circulate: Société Rencesvals, American-Canadian Branch 2009 MLA Annual Convention Current Research Trends in Epic Studies The goal of this panel is to explore current ways of researching the romance epic. How do scholars...
- Medieval Romance Society
The Medieval Romance Society solicits paper proposals for three sessions on romance and transgression for the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, May 7-10 2009. I am pasting our full descriptions of the sessions below. Please note...
Medieval History
CFP: Romancing History: Interrogating the Crossroads of Medieval Genres
Romancing History: Interrogating the Crossroads of Medieval Genres
International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan
13-16 May 2010
In a recent companion article to Arthurian romance, W.R.J Barron
spends nearly two-thirds of his essay discussing medieval texts that
identify themselves as histories. This approach is not surprising,
given the fluidity of medieval romance?s generic identity. Scholars
have long noted the overlap between medieval romance and history,
observing, as Judith Weiss does, that wealthy patrons frequently took
a simultaneous interest in the two modes; further, chronicles and
romances often coincided in their contents and styles, such that
romances reinterpreted historical events while histories romanticized
them. To some extent, critics argue, any distinction between romance
and history is an anachronistic one imposed retroactively by the
divisions modern scholars see between their own fields of study.
The session will seek to explore various instances of the intertwined
relationship between history and romance by investigating the ways
these modes overlap and interact in medieval texts. Participants may
choose to extend the discussion by examining the socio-cultural
reasons underlying the appropriation of historical events and figures
by romance. What late-medieval cultural work is accomplished by a
Middle English romance that recounts the story of an Anglo-Saxon king
or one who ruled only a century before? Conversely, papers may focus
on the use of romance content, form, and style in ostensibly factual
chronicle accounts. What purpose might a chronicler like Benoit de
Sainte-Maure accomplish by incorporating aspects of romance into
episodes of a history? Ideally this session will generate useful
work on the medieval uses of these flexible generic categories.
Please submit 250-word proposals to Elizabeth Williamsen at
[email protected] by September 15, 2009. Please also include the
Congress participant information sheet available at
http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF .
*********************
Elizabeth Williamsen, Ph.D.
Visiting Lecturer
Department of English
Indiana University
- Cfp: Medieval Romance Society
Posted on behalf: ----- The Medieval Romance Society has proposed 2 sessions for Kalamazoo 2010. The sessions are entitled ?Once Upon a Time:? Romance Temporalities, which explores the uses of time within medieval romance, and Temporal Touching: Medieval...
- 51st International Congress On Medieval Studies May 12-15, 2016, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States
Kalamazoo 2016 #Kzoo2016 CALL FOR PAPERS51st International Congress on Medieval StudiesMay 12-15, 2016, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States Sessions Sponsored by the Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (HSMS) 1) Koineization and Standardization...
- Medieval Romance Society
The Medieval Romance Society still has an opening in the following session at the ICMS in Kalamazoo, May 13-16, 2010: ?Once Upon a Time:? Romance Temporalities Critics have long acknowledged the ?once upon a time? trope at work in medieval romance, but...
- Call For Papers: Current Research Trends In Epic Studies
Call for papers -- please circulate: Société Rencesvals, American-Canadian Branch 2009 MLA Annual Convention Current Research Trends in Epic Studies The goal of this panel is to explore current ways of researching the romance epic. How do scholars...
- Medieval Romance Society
The Medieval Romance Society solicits paper proposals for three sessions on romance and transgression for the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, May 7-10 2009. I am pasting our full descriptions of the sessions below. Please note...