Medievalism is still a hot topic. With at least eight sessions touching directly upon this theme, there will be ample opportunity to explore the modern take on the medieval – whether by literates, musicians, gamesters, re-enactors, heritage consultants or politicians.
Pride of place takes the four sessions organised by Carmen : The Worldwide Medieval network.
The Use and Abuse of the Middle Ages in the Modern World, I: Reconsidering History [Session No: 241]
The Use and Abuse of the Middle Ages in the Modern World, II: Memorialization and Reinvention [Session No: 341]
The Use and Abuse of the Middle Ages in the Modern World, III: Imagination and Representation [Session No: 741]
The Use and Abuse of the Middle Ages in the Modern World, IV: Nationalism and Identity [Session No: 841]
These sessions considers the use or abuse of the Middle Ages in the modern world and explores
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Quisling speaking at Stiklestad in front of Nazi memorial near Trondheim history being reconsidered, reused, rewritten, or reinterpreted. Papers will deal with issues of cultural memory, ideology and theology, nationalism and crisis, and the medieval past serving as an exemplar for the present in historical and contemporary contexts.
- memorialization and reinvention as a part of using or understanding the medieval past in the modern world and contemporary present. Papers explore how monuments, memorials, and individuals can be maintained, reinvented or appropriated for various uses within the realms of both political and social agendas.
- fictions of and about the medieval world and their reinterpretation and representation in modern society. Papers will consider the political use of medievalized fictions, politics and political groups and romantic views of the past, and social movements of the modern world appropriating fictionalized heroes from the medieval past.
- the questions that arise when nationalism intersects with a modern interest in the medieval past. Drawing largely from post-19th century instances of the uses of the medieval, these papers consider questions of nationalism and nation-building, conservatism and far-right politics using the past for political agendas, and the place of contentious medievalist monuments of the past in the modern world.
Ultimately the papers promises to:
- consider how the past is ‘selected’ for use in the present
- explore the modern reinvention of the medieval as a part of a political memory or agenda
- examine how the medieval in popular culture is represented in fictionalized forms and moulded to modern political or social needs.
- consider certain medievalist movements in light of the politics of their historical and modern context.
FEATURED PHOTO:
One paper [841] by Øystein Ekroll from Nidaros Cathedral Restoration Workshop, Trondheim will discuss the question about what to do with a Nazi-Monument, which was hacked to pieces after the war and buried beneath the ground. For some time this has been debated in Norway. The buried monument was partially uncovered in 2009, when this photo was taken © Stiklestad Nasjonale Kultursenter
