Reinventing the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Constructions of the Medieval and Early Modern Periods
Edited by William F. Gentrup
The fourteen essays presented in this volume contribute substantially to the study of the reinvention of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. They take an historicized approach to constructions of the past, and most address the relatively new field of Medievalism. All of them focus on how and why the present of any period uses the past to promote its own opinions, beliefs, doctrines or views. In particular, the volume demonstrates that reinventions of past eras or figures can be motivated by a nationalistic desire to create cultural ‘roots’, to discover origins that justify a regime or group’s self-identity, to appropriate a cultural icon or neglected author for a particular political agenda, or to reflect on contemporary social issues via a remote time and place. Reworkings or adaptations of earlier culture often tell us more about the age in which they were produced than the one revived or revisited. This volume features five essays that treat medieval subjects; four focus on Tudor and Stuart figures, religion or politics; and five concentrate on nineteenth-century uses of medieval or early modern events, literary conventions, settings and themes.
- Edited by William F. Gentrup
Other Titles in this Series
Reading the Natural World in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Perceptions of the Environment and Ecology
Volume 46
At the Table
Metaphorical and Material Cultures of Food in Medieval and Early Modern Europe
Volume 18
The Future of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Problems, Trends, and Opportunities for Research
Volume 2
Crossing Boundaries
Issues of Cultural and Individual Identities in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Volume 3
Translatio or the Transmission of Culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Modes and Messages
Volume 13
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