Fantasy And Science Fiction Medievalisms

Download Fantasy And Science Fiction Medievalisms full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. Read online Fantasy And Science Fiction Medievalisms ebook anywhere anytime directly on your device. Fast Download speed and no annoying ads. We cannot guarantee that every ebooks is available!

Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones

Author : Helen Young
Publisher : Cambria Press
ISBN 13 : 1621967476
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (219 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones by : Helen Young

Download or read book Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones written by Helen Young and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2015-06-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: rom advertisements to amusement parks, themed restaurants, and Renaissance fairs twenty-first century popular culture is strewn with reimaginings of the Middle Ages. They are nowhere more prevalent, however, than in the films, television series, books, and video games of speculative genres: fantasy and science fiction. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies and George R. R. Martin's multimedia Game of Thrones franchise are just two of the most widely known and successful fantasy conglomerates of recent decades. Medievalism has often been understood as a defining feature of fantasy, and as the antithesis of science fiction, but such constructs vastly underestimate the complexities of both genres and their interactions. "Medieval" has multiple meanings in fantasy and science fiction, which shift with genre convention, and which bring about their own changes as authors and audiences engage with what has gone before in the recent and deeper pasts. Earlier volumes have examined some of the ways in which contemporary popular culture re-imagines the Middle Ages, offering broad overviews, but none considers fantasy, science fiction, or the two together. The focused approach of this collection provides a directed pathway into the myriad medievalisms of modern popular culture. By engaging directly with genre(s), this book acknowledges that medievalist creative texts and practices do not occur in a vacuum, but are shaped by multiple cultural forces and concerns; medievalism is never just about the Middle Ages.

Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones - Student Edition

Author : Helen Young
Publisher : Cambria Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 230 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones - Student Edition by : Helen Young

Download or read book Fantasy and Science Fiction Medievalisms: From Isaac Asimov to A Game of Thrones - Student Edition written by Helen Young and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2015-07-30 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Note: this is an abridged version of the book with references removed.The complete edition is also available on this website. From advertisements to amusement parks, themed restaurants, and Renaissance fairs twenty-first century popular culture is strewn with reimaginings of the Middle Ages. They are nowhere more prevalent, however, than in the films, television series, books, and video games of speculative genres: fantasy and science fiction. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies and George R. R. Martin's multimedia Game of Thrones franchise are just two of the most widely known and successful fantasy conglomerates of recent decades. Medievalism has often been understood as a defining feature of fantasy, and as the antithesis of science fiction, but such constructs vastly underestimate the complexities of both genres and their interactions. "Medieval" has multiple meanings in fantasy and science fiction, which shift with genre convention, and which bring about their own changes as authors and audiences engage with what has gone before in the recent and deeper pasts. Earlier volumes have examined some of the ways in which contemporary popular culture re-imagines the Middle Ages, offering broad overviews, but none considers fantasy, science fiction, or the two together. The focused approach of this collection provides a directed pathway into the myriad medievalisms of modern popular culture. By engaging directly with genre(s), this book acknowledges that medievalist creative texts and practices do not occur in a vacuum, but are shaped by multiple cultural forces and concerns; medievalism is never just about the Middle Ages.

The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre - Student Edition

Author : Helen Young
Publisher : Cambria Press
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre - Student Edition by : Helen Young

Download or read book The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre - Student Edition written by Helen Young and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2015-07-30 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Note: this is an abridged version of the book with references removed. The complete edition is available on this website. This fascinating study places multiple genres in dialogue and considers both medievalism and genre to be frameworks from which meaning can be produced. It explores works from a wide range of genres-children's and young adult, historical, cyberpunk, fantasy, science fiction, romance, and crime-and across multiple media-fiction, film, television, video games, and music. The range of media types and genres enable comparison, and the identification of overarching trends, while also allowing comparison of contrasting phenomena. As the first volume to explore the nexus of medievalism and genre across such a wide range of texts, this collection illustrates the fractured ideologies of contemporary popular culture. The Middle Ages are more usually, and often more prominently, aligned with conservative ideologies, for example around gender roles, but the Middle Ages can also be the site of resistance and progressive politics. Exploring the interplay of past and present, and the ways writers and readers work engage with them demonstrates the conscious processes of identity construction at work throughout Western popular culture. The collection also demonstrates that while scholars may have by-and-large abandoned the concept of accuracy when considering contemporary medievalisms, the Middle Ages are widely associated with authenticity, and the authenticity of identity, in the popular imagination; the idea of the real Middle Ages matters, even when historical realities do not. This book will be of interest to scholars of medievalism, popular culture, and genre.

The Fantasy of the Middle Ages

Author : Larisa Grollemond
Publisher : Getty Publications
ISBN 13 : 1606067583
Total Pages : 150 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (6 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Fantasy of the Middle Ages by : Larisa Grollemond

Download or read book The Fantasy of the Middle Ages written by Larisa Grollemond and published by Getty Publications. This book was released on 2022-07-19 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This abundantly illustrated book is an illuminating exploration of the impact of medieval imagery on three hundred years of visual culture. From the soaring castles of Sleeping Beauty to the bloody battles of Game of Thrones, from Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings to mythical beasts in Dungeons & Dragons, and from Medieval Times to the Renaissance Faire, the Middle Ages have inspired artists, playwrights, filmmakers, gamers, and writers for centuries. Indeed, no other historical era has captured the imaginations of so many creators. This volume aims to uncover the many reasons why the Middle Ages have proven so flexible—and applicable—to a variety of modern moments from the eighteenth through the twenty-first century. These “medieval” worlds are often the perfect ground for exploring contemporary cultural concerns and anxieties, saying much more about the time and place in which they were created than they do about the actual conditions of the medieval period. With over 140 color illustrations, from sources ranging from thirteenth-century illuminated manuscripts to contemporary films and video games, and a preface by Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton, The Fantasy of the Middle Ages will surprise and delight both enthusiasts and scholars. This title is published to accompany an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center from June 21–September 11, 2022.

Science Fiction Literature through History [2 volumes]

Author : Gary Westfahl
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 681 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (161 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Science Fiction Literature through History [2 volumes] by : Gary Westfahl

Download or read book Science Fiction Literature through History [2 volumes] written by Gary Westfahl and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2021-07-19 with total page 681 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides students and other interested readers with a comprehensive survey of science fiction history and numerous essays addressing major science fiction topics, authors, works, and subgenres written by a distinguished scholar. This encyclopedia deals with written science fiction in all of its forms, not only novels and short stories but also mediums often ignored in other reference books, such as plays, poems, comic books, and graphic novels. Some science fiction films, television programs, and video games are also mentioned, particularly when they are relevant to written texts. Its focus is on science fiction in the English language, though due attention is given to international authors whose works have been frequently translated into English. Since science fiction became a recognized genre and greatly expanded in the 20th century, works published in the 20th and 21st centuries are most frequently discussed, though important earlier works are not neglected. The texts are designed to be helpful to numerous readers, ranging from students first encountering science fiction to experienced scholars in the field.

Studies in Medievalism XXXII

Author : Karl Fugelso
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
ISBN 13 : 1843846489
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (438 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Studies in Medievalism XXXII by : Karl Fugelso

Download or read book Studies in Medievalism XXXII written by Karl Fugelso and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2023-03-07 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though manifestations of play represent a burgeoning subject area in the study of post-medieval responses to the Middle Ages, they have not always received the respect and attention they deserve. This volume seeks to correct those deficiencies. Though manifestations of play represent a burgeoning subject area in the study of post-medieval responses to the Middle Ages, they have not always received the respect and attention they deserve. This volume seeks to correct those deficiencies via six essays that directly address how the Middle Ages have been put in play with regard to Alice Munro's 1977 short story "The Beggar Maid"; David Lowery's 2021 film The Green Knight; medievalist archaisms in Japanese video games; runic play in Norse-themed digital games; medievalist managerialism in the 2020 video game Crusader Kings III; and neomedieval architectural praxis in the 2014 video game Stronghold: Crusader II. The approaches and conclusions of those essays are then tested in the second section's six essays as they examine "muscular medievalism" in George R. R. Martin's 1996 novel A Game of Thrones; the queering of the Arthurian romance pattern in the 2018-20 television show She-Ra and the Princesses of Power; the interspecies embodiment of dis/ability in the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon; late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century nationalism in Irish reimaginings of the Fenian Cycle; post-bellum medievalism in poetry of the Confederacy; and the medievalist presentation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 2020-21 Covid inoculation.

Global Medievalism

Author : Helen Young
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 100912241X
Total Pages : 147 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Global Medievalism by : Helen Young

Download or read book Global Medievalism written by Helen Young and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-10-06 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The typical vision of the Middle Ages western popular culture represents to its global audience is deeply Eurocentric. The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones imagined entire medievalist worlds, but we see only a fraction of them through the stories and travels of the characters. Organised around the theme of mobility, this Element seeks to deconstruct the Eurocentric orientations of western popular medievalisms which typically position Europe as either the whole world or the centre of it, by making them visible and offering alternative perspectives. How does popular culture represent medievalist worlds as global-connected by the movement of people and objects? How do imagined mobilities allow us to create counterstories that resist Eurocentric norms? This study represents the start of what will hopefully be a fruitful and inclusive conversation of what the Middle Ages did, and should, look like.

Medievalism in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones

Author : Shiloh Carroll
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
ISBN 13 : 1843844842
Total Pages : 216 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (438 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Medievalism in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones by : Shiloh Carroll

Download or read book Medievalism in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones written by Shiloh Carroll and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2018 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the biggest attractions of George R.R. Martin's high fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, and by extension its HBO television adaptation, Game of Thrones, is its claim to historical realism. The author, thedirectors and producers of the adaptation, and indeed the fans of the books and show, all lay claim to Westeros, its setting, as representative of an authentic medieval world. But how true are these claims? Is it possible to faithfully represent a time so far removed from our own in time and culture? And what does an authentic medieval fantasy world look like? This book explores Martin's and HBO's approaches to and beliefs about the Middle Ages and how those beliefs fall into traditional medievalist and fantastic literary patterns. Examining both books and programme from a range of critical approaches - medievalism theory, gender theory, queer theory, postcolonial theory, andrace theory - Dr Carroll analyzes how the drive for historical realism affects the books' and show's treatment of men, women, people of colour, sexuality, and imperialism, as well as how the author and showrunners discuss these effects outside the texts themselves. SHILOH CARROLL teaches in the writing center at Tennessee State University.

Memory and Medievalism in George RR Martin and Game of Thrones

Author : Carolyne Larrington
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1350269611
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (52 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Memory and Medievalism in George RR Martin and Game of Thrones by : Carolyne Larrington

Download or read book Memory and Medievalism in George RR Martin and Game of Thrones written by Carolyne Larrington and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-08-11 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the connections between history and fantasy in George RR Martin's immensely popular book series 'A Song of Ice and Fire' and the international TV sensation HBO TV's Game of Thrones. Acknowledging the final season's foregrounding of the cultural centrality of history, truth and memory in the confrontation between Bran and the Night King, the volume takes full account of the TV show's conclusion in its multiple readings across from medieval history, its institutions and practices, as depicted in the books to the show's own particular medievalism. The topics under discussion include the treatment of the historical phenomena of chivalry, tournaments, dreams, models of education, and the supernatural, and the different ways in which these are mediated in Martin's books and the TV show. The collection also includes a new study of one of Martin's key sources, Maurice Druon's Les Rois Maudits, in-depth explorations of major characters in their medieval contexts, and provocative reflections on the show's controversial handling of gender and power politics. Written by an international team of medieval scholars, historians, literary and cultural experts, bringing their own unique perspectives to the multiple societies, belief-systems and customs of the 'Game of Thrones' universe, Memory and Medievalism in George RR Martin and Game of Thrones offers original and sparky insights into the world-building of books and show.

Recomposing the Past: Representations of Early Music on Stage and Screen

Author : James Cook
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 135197551X
Total Pages : 449 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (519 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Recomposing the Past: Representations of Early Music on Stage and Screen by : James Cook

Download or read book Recomposing the Past: Representations of Early Music on Stage and Screen written by James Cook and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-01 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recomposing the Past is a book concerned with the complex but important ways in which we engage with the past in modern times. Contributors examine how media on stage and screen uses music, and in particular early music, to evoke and recompose a distant past. Culture, popular and otherwise, is awash with a stylise - sometimes contradictory - musical history. And yet for all its complexities, these representations of the past through music are integral to how our contemporary and collective imaginations understand history. More importantly, they offer a valuable insight into how we understand our musical present. Such representative strategies, the book argues, cross generic boundaries, and as such it brings together a range of multimedia discussion on the subjects of film (Lord of the Rings, Dangerous Liasions), television (Game of Thrones, The Borgias), videogame (Dragon Warrior, Gauntlet), and opera (Written on Skin, Taverner, English ‘dramatick opera’). This collection constitutes a significant, and interdisciplinary, contribution to a growing literature which is unpacking our ongoing creative dialogue with the past. Divided into three complementary sections, grouped not by genre or media but by theme, it considers: ‘Authenticity, Appropriateness, and Recomposing the Past’, ‘Music, Space, and Place: Geography as History’, and ‘Presentness and the Past: Dialogues between Old and New’. Like the musical collage that is our shared multimedia historical soundscape, it is hoped that this collection is, in its eclecticism, more than the sum of its parts.

Medievalism, Politics and Mass Media

Author : Andrew B. R. Elliott
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
ISBN 13 : 184384463X
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (438 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Medievalism, Politics and Mass Media by : Andrew B. R. Elliott

Download or read book Medievalism, Politics and Mass Media written by Andrew B. R. Elliott and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2017 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration of how the Middle Ages are manipulated ideologically in today's communication.

The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre

Author : Helen Young
Publisher : Cambria Press
ISBN 13 : 1621967484
Total Pages : 240 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (219 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre by : Helen Young

Download or read book The Middle Ages in Popular Culture: Medievalism and Genre written by Helen Young and published by Cambria Press. This book was released on 2015-07-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating study places multiple genres in dialogue and considers both medievalism and genre to be frameworks from which meaning can be produced. It explores works from a wide range of genres-children's and young adult, historical, cyberpunk, fantasy, science fiction, romance, and crime-and across multiple media-fiction, film, television, video games, and music. The range of media types and genres enable comparison, and the identification of overarching trends, while also allowing comparison of contrasting phenomena. As the first volume to explore the nexus of medievalism and genre across such a wide range of texts, this collection illustrates the fractured ideologies of contemporary popular culture. The Middle Ages are more usually, and often more prominently, aligned with conservative ideologies, for example around gender roles, but the Middle Ages can also be the site of resistance and progressive politics. Exploring the interplay of past and present, and the ways writers and readers work engage with them demonstrates the conscious processes of identity construction at work throughout Western popular culture. The collection also demonstrates that while scholars may have by-and-large abandoned the concept of accuracy when considering contemporary medievalisms, the Middle Ages are widely associated with authenticity, and the authenticity of identity, in the popular imagination; the idea of the real Middle Ages matters, even when historical realities do not. This book will be of interest to scholars of medievalism, popular culture, and genre.

Neo-Victorianism and Medievalism

Author :
Publisher : BRILL
ISBN 13 : 9004688358
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (46 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Neo-Victorianism and Medievalism by :

Download or read book Neo-Victorianism and Medievalism written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2024-05-02 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together neo-Victorian and medievalism scholars in dialogue with each other for the first time, this collection of essays foregrounds issues common to both fields. The Victorians reimagined the medieval era and post-Victorian medievalism repurposes received nineteenth century tropes, as do neo-Victorian texts. For example, aesthetic movements such as Arts and Crafts, which looked for inspiration in the medieval era, are echoed by steampunk in its return to Victorian dress and technology. Issues of gender identity, sexuality, imperialism and nostalgia arise in both neo-Victorianism and medievalism, and analysis of such texts is enriched and expanded by the interconnections between the two fields represented in this groundbreaking collection.

Fantasy

Author : Lucie Armitt
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317196414
Total Pages : 221 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (171 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis Fantasy by : Lucie Armitt

Download or read book Fantasy written by Lucie Armitt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-03-09 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fantasy provides an invaluable and accessible guide to the study of this fascinating field. Covering literature, film, television, ballet, light opera and visual art and featuring a historical overview from Ovid to the Toy Story franchise, this book takes the reader through the key landmark moments in the development of fantasy criticism. This comprehensive guide examines fantasy and politics, fantasy and the erotic, quest narratives and animal fantasy for children. The versatility and cultural significance of fantasy is explored, alongside the important role fantasy plays in our understanding of ‘the real’, from childhood onwards. Written in a clear, engaging style and featuring an extensive glossary of terms, this is the essential introduction to Fantasy.

The Middle Ages in Computer Games

Author : Robert Houghton
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
ISBN 13 : 1843847299
Total Pages : 373 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (438 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis The Middle Ages in Computer Games by : Robert Houghton

Download or read book The Middle Ages in Computer Games written by Robert Houghton and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2024-11-05 with total page 373 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers the most comprehensive analysis and discussion of medievalist computer games to date. Games with a medieval setting are commercially lucrative and reach a truly massive audience. Moreover, they can engage their players in a manner that is not only different, but in certain aspects, more profound than traditional literary or cinematic forms of medievalism. However, although it is important to understand the versions of the Middle Ages presented by these games, how players engage with these medievalist worlds, and why particular representational trends emerge in this most modern medium, there has hitherto been little scholarship devoted to them. This book explores the distinct nature of medievalism in digital games across a range of themes, from the portrayal of grotesque yet romantic conflict to conflicting depictions of the Church and religion. It likewise considers the distinctions between medievalist games and those of other periods, underlining their emphasis on fantasy, roleplay and hardcore elements, and their consequences for depictions of morality, race, gender and sexuality. Ultimately the book argues that while medievalist games are thoroughly influenced by medievalist and ludic tropes, they are nonetheless representative of a distinct new form of medievalism. It engages with the vast literature surrounding historical game studies, game design, and medievalism, and considers hundreds of games from across genres, from Assassin's Creed and Baldur's Gate to Crusader Kings and The Witcher series. In doing so, it provides a vital illustration of the state of the field and a cornerstone for future research and teaching.

From Medievalism to Early-Modernism

Author : Marina Gerzic
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429683006
Total Pages : 419 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (296 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis From Medievalism to Early-Modernism by : Marina Gerzic

Download or read book From Medievalism to Early-Modernism written by Marina Gerzic and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-26 with total page 419 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Medievalism to Early-Modernism: Adapting the English Past is a collection of essays that both analyses the historical and cultural medieval and early modern past, and engages with the medievalism and early-modernism—a new term introduced in this collection—present in contemporary popular culture. By focusing on often overlooked uses of the past in contemporary culture—such as the allusions to John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi (1623) in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, and the impact of intertextual references and internet fandom on the BBC’s The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses—the contributors illustrate how cinematic, televisual, artistic, and literary depictions of the historical and cultural past not only re-purpose the past in varying ways, but also build on a history of adaptations that audiences have come to know and expect. From Medievalism to Early-Modernism: Adapting the English Past analyses the way that the medieval and early modern periods are used in modern adaptations, and how these adaptations both reflect contemporary concerns, and engage with a history of intertextuality and intervisuality.

National Medievalism in the Twenty-First Century

Author : Matthias D. Berger
Publisher : Boydell & Brewer
ISBN 13 : 1843846578
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (438 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Book Synopsis National Medievalism in the Twenty-First Century by : Matthias D. Berger

Download or read book National Medievalism in the Twenty-First Century written by Matthias D. Berger and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2023-07-18 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How ideas and ideals of an imagined, protean, national Middle Ages have once again become a convergence point for anxieties about politics, history and cultural identity in our time - and why. After a period of abeyance, the link forged in the nineteenth century between the Middle Ages and national identity is increasingly being reclaimed, with numerous groups and individuals mining an imagined medieval past to present ideas and ideals of modern nationhood. Today's national medievalism asserts itself at the interface of culture and politics: in literature and television programming, in journalism and heritage tourism, and in the way political actors of various stripes use a deep past that supposedly proves the nation's steady exceptionalism in a hectic globalised world. This book traces these ongoing developments in Switzerland and Britain, two countries where the medieval past has recently been much invoked in negotiations of national identity, independence and Euroscepticism. Through comparative analysis, it explores examples of reemerging stories of national exceptionalism - stories that, ironically, echo those of other nations. The author analyses depictions of Robert the Bruce and Wilhelm Tell; medievalism in the discourse surrounding Brexit as well as at the Welsh Senedd; novels like Paul Kingsnorth's The Wake; community-based art such as the Great Tapestry of Scotland; and elaborate public commemorations of Swiss victories (and defeats) in battle. Basing his critical readings in current theories of cultural memory, heritage and nationalism, the author explores how the protean national Middle Ages have once again become a convergence point for anxieties about politics, history and cultural identity in our time - and why.