Debra E. Best, Elizabeth L. Rambo et Patricia H. Ward (dir.), Authentically Medieval. Authors and Scholars on Depicting the Middle Ages in Fiction, McFarland, 2024.

This collection compiles essays by medievalist scholars that examine the variety of ways authors have fictionalized the medieval period while meeting the challenge of creating engaging literature. More significantly, this project seeks to explore the importance of authenticity in these works of medievalism. The works discussed represent a variety of genres, including historical, young adult, Arthurian detective fiction, paranormal romance and fantasy, as well as adaptations of Beowulf and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
Opening the collection are three essays by author-scholars who share their processes of creating an authentic medieval world appealing to a wide audience. The remaining seven essays by medievalist scholars examine a variety of medievalist texts, addressing the extent to which their authors adhere to the facts of the period, while at times necessarily filling in historical gaps in the process of creating these works. Each of the essays addresses the concept of authenticity in fiction about the Middle Ages; together, they become a lively conversation about authenticity in narratives of various genres.

Table des matières

Introduction Debra E. Best, Patricia H. Ward, and Elizabeth L. Rambo

1. A Nun, a Werewolf, and a Medievalist Walk into a Romance Novel: Writing Fantasy Medievalism Emily Leverett

2. Riding with Chaucer on the Bus of Anachronism: Modernizing the Canterbury Tales Kim Zarins

3. “God’s Elbows, Boy, Don’t Burn Me with the Facts”: Faithful Revisionism in the “Merlin Mysteries” Series Jay Ruud

4. Mind the Gaps: World-building in Rebecca Barnhouse’s The Coming of the Dragon and Peaceweaver Patricia H. Ward

5. “Her life was no heroic adventure of daring and greatness”: Susan Signe Morrison’s Grendel’s Mother: The Saga of the Wyrd-Wife and the Hidden Violence of Beowulf Alison Gulley

6. Playing Chaucer’s Game in Paul Doherty’s Canterbury Tales Series M. Wendy Hennequin

7. The Fantasy Space of Medieval History: Authenticity in Bruce Holsinger’s A Burnable Book Debra E. Best

8. Justice as Women’s Work in the Novels of Candace Robb Teresa Marie Hooper

9. Nuns and Nun-sense: Recreating Medieval Spirituality in the Dame Frevisse Novels of Margaret Frazer Josephine A. Koster

10. Accidental Medievalist: Dorothy Dunnett and King Hereafter Elizabeth L. Rambo and Heike Meyer

 

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