Browsing by Subject "Medievalism"

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Chante(Fable) : romance, parody, and the medieval in Aucassin et Nicolette and Lionhead Studios’ Fable
(2015-08) Holterman, Nicholas Robert; Scala, Elizabeth, 1966-; Birkholz, Daniel
The romance was one of the most popular genres of medieval literature during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. While it is difficult to enumerate the universal characteristics shared by all romances, there are similar elements present in many. Aucassin et Nicolette, the unique thirteenth-century chantefable, has intentionally adopted these elements and manipulated them in such a way that parodies the romances put forth by Chrétien de Troyes. The video game Fable comprises a unique structural form that echoes that of Aucassin et Nicolette and, despite its creation nearly eight hundred years later, belongs to the medieval tradition of parody. This report will explore how the various motifs, such as the hero quest, the battle sequence, and the fantastic world, are imitated and manipulated by Fable and Aucassin et Nicolette in their self-conscious attempts to parody medieval romance conventions. In the era of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, popular culture is be obsessed with medievalism. Fable, however, is categorically medieval rather than post-medieval because of the structure it shares with Aucassin et Nicolette. Together, these works self-consciously employ techniques that deride the romance conventions, and intentionally resist conforming to medieval public expectations.
Mythical historicism as orientation in The legend of Zelda
(2016-12) Ovalle, Joseph Alexander; Nardini, Luisa
Since the release of The Legend of Zelda in 1986, the video game series has received critical acclaim. The success of the franchise has culminated in 18 games, a television series, numerous awards, a comic series, and the institution of a traveling symphony dedicated to the performance of music from the series around the world. Throughout the first 25 years of its existence, the creators of The Legend of Zelda managed to keep one detail secret from millions of fans worldwide – the games were not released in chronological order. An analysis of the games that most heavily require players to engage in musical performance practices reveal elements of mythical historicism utilized to evoke a sense of the past and reinforce the official timeline. This report seeks to highlight aspects of historicism by examining the iconography, narrative, and performative practices in Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time, and The Wind Waker through comparison to western musical traditions.
Performing class, performing genre : The squire of low degree as fifteenth-century drag
(2017-05-03) Heide, Melissa Louise; Heng, Geraldine
Despite the expansion of Judith Butler's theories of performativity which have proliferated since the publication of Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity in 1990, few scholars have examined the implications that performativity may have for social class. Fewer still have considered how social class might be performed in the premodern text. In this thesis, I examine how the economic language which pervades the little-studied fifteenth-century romance The Squire of Low Degree enacts a socioeconomic iteration of Butler's theory of performativity. This performance of social class occurs primarily in the speeches of this romance's courtly characters and at the site of the squire's body, as he attempts to rise above his ascribed social class to become a knight and qualify as a suitable partner for his beloved, born of royalty. Finally, this thesis demonstrates not only the social performativity within the poem's narrative, but also the classed performance enacted by the genre of the romance itself, producing a medievalist fantasy of social mobility for the increasingly prominent late medieval gentry classes itself, producing a medievalist fantasy of social mobility for the increasingly prominent late medieval gentry classes.
Staging medievalisms : touching the Middle Ages through contemporary performance
(2013-05) Gutierrez, Christina Lynn; Canning, Charlotte, 1964-
Staging Medievalisms analyzes how twentieth- and twenty-first century performance constructs the Middle Ages. This work is in conversation with medievalism, the academic field concerned with the diverse ways post-medieval societies have re-imagined medieval narratives and tropes, often in service of their own values. As a result of centuries worth of re-definition, the term "medieval" is unstable, referring simultaneously to a fairytale prehistory and a dark age of oppression. I argue that performance, both in theatrical productions and in medieval-focused tourist spaces, allows an affective connection between the medieval past and the present, casting the Middle Ages as an inherently flexible backdrop for contemporary political and social concerns. In tourist spaces and plays about the Middle Ages, the performing body becomes the site where the medieval and the modern touch. I conduct close readings of six productions and three public spaces which stage the Middle Ages, examining which particular versions of the medieval they create, how they stage moments of historiographical contact, and how each uses the medieval to imagine their own historical contexts. Chapter one provides an overview of medievalism and its connection to performance studies, and subsequent chapters take up contemporary productions of medieval history, legend, and fantasy, respectively. Chapter two examines three recent stagings of Shakespeare's medieval history play Henry V, a work which stages two opposing versions of the medieval simultaneously. The Royal Shakespeare Company (1994), National Theatre (2003), and Austin, Texas (2009) productions offer commentary on modern warfare, using Henry's medieval battles as both evidence and setting. Chapter three analyses representations of the Holy Grail in Mort d'Arthur (2010), Spamalot (2005), and Proof (2001). Each re-imagines the Grail as a symbol of achievement and power, drawing different conclusions about contemporary society's need for the mystical. Chapter four takes up performances of the Middle Ages in the public sphere, examining how Disneyland, Medieval Times, and the Renaissance Faire offer visitors varying degrees of freedom to experience the medieval through their own bodies. Throughout, I argue that performance encourages affective connections to the medieval past as a reflection of contemporary desires.