Contemporary Medieval

Module description

This module examines the ways in which the Middle Ages have been used as a resource for new cultural productions in the modern and contemporary periods.  It examines how Medieval Studies as a discipline relates to Medievalism, an emerging field in its own right.  And it considers how contemporary practices that engage the medieval might be situated in relation to these two fields.  We will explore modern and contemporary fictional, poetic, material and cinematic expressions of the long medieval period, putting them side-by-side by the medieval texts and objects that resourced this work.  This will enable us to assess how the medieval and the contemporary are put into a relationship and to explore broader critical issues of reception, representation and creation within English literary studies and, as we shall see, within the English-speaking world.  The module offers the opportunity to conduct independent research into a new and rapidly changing field of study in what is still often perceived as an old, distant and rigidly traditional period.  

Ideal advance reading for this module would include Nicola Grifith, Hild (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 2013) and Lavinia Greenlaw, A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde (London: Faber and Faber, 2014)

Assessment details

Coursework

1 x 4000-word essay (100%)  

Teaching pattern

1 x two-hour seminar, weekly

Module description disclaimer

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Please note that modules with a practical component will be capped due to educational requirements, which may mean that we cannot guarantee a place to all students who elect to study this module.

Please note that the module descriptions above are related to the current academic year and are subject to change.