The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination: Memory, Film and Medievalism (Library of Medieval Studies)

It Is Often Assumed That Those Outside Of Academia Know Very Little About The Middle Ages. But The Truth Is Not So Simple. Non-specialists In Fact Learn A Great Deal From The Myriad Medievalisms - Post-medieval Imaginings Of The Medieval World - That Pervade Our Everyday Culture. These, Like Lord Of The Rings Or Game Of Thrones, Offer Compelling, If Not Necessarily Accurate, Visions Of The Medieval World. And More, They Have An Impact On The Popular Imagination, Particularly Since There Are New Medievalisms Constantly Being Developed, Synthesised And Remade. But What Does The Public Really Know? How Do The Conflicting Medievalisms They Consume Contribute To Their Knowledge? And Why Is This Important? In This Book, The First Evidence-based Exploration Of The Wider Public's Understanding Of The Middle Ages, Paul B. Sturtevant Adapts Sociological Methods To Answer These Important Questions. Based On Extensive Focus Groups, The Book Details The Ways - Both Formal And Informal - That People Learn About The Medieval Past And The Many Other Ways That This Informs, And Even Distorts, Our Present. In The Process, Sturtevant Also Sheds Light, In More General Terms, Onto The Ways Non-specialists Learn About The Past, And Why Understanding This Is So Important. The Middle Ages In Popular Imagination Will Be Of Interest To Anyone Working On Medieval Studies, Medievalism, Memory Studies, Medieval Film Studies, Informal Learning Or Public History. Paul B. Sturtevant. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 239-288) And Index. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements Transcription Conventions Introduction 1. The Public Understanding of the Past How Not to Study Historical Consciousness Doing it Right: The Presence of the Past Lessons of The Presence of the Past and its Successors Another Approach: Qualitative Methods The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination and its Methodology Conclusion 2. Their Understanding of the Middle Ages Choosing Words Carefully: ‘Medieval’ or ‘Middle Ages’? The ‘Medieval’ ‘Middle Ages’ When Were the Middle Ages? Where Were the Middle Ages? Perceptions of Medieval Religion and Crusade Learning the Middle Ages Popular Culture Conclusion 3. Learning History from Film How the Public Views Historical Films The Sociology of Knowledge and Constructivism Leaning History from Film Conclusion 4. The Medieval Film Approaching Medieval Films Examining the Corpus and Audience of Medieval Films Conclusion: Does This Affect the Audiences of Medieval Films? 5. The Middle Ages They Watched Beowulf Kingdom of Heaven The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Conclusion 6. The Medieval Worlds They Found Medieval Society: Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know Gender Power The Land Religion Conclusion: How Did the Participants Learn? 7. Discussion, Conclusions, and Looking Forward The Utility of Qualitative Research The Shape of Knowledge of the Middle Ages Implications for the Classroom Onward Appendix A. Using Social Science Methods to Study Historical Consciousness Quantitative Methods Qualitative Methods Appendix B. Methodology of The Middle Ages in the Popular Imagination Study Qualitative Data Analysis Procedures Research Design Rationale Notes Works Cited Index It is often assumed that those outside of academia know very little about the Middle Ages. But the truth is not so simple. Non-specialists in fact learn a great deal from the myriad medievalisms - post-medieval imaginings of the medieval world - that pervade our everyday culture. These, like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, offer compelling, if not necessarily accurate, visions of the medieval world. And more, they have an impact on the popular imagination, particularly since there are new medievalisms constantly being developed, synthesised and remade. But what does the public really know? How do the conflicting medievalisms they consume contribute to their knowledge? And why is this important? In this book, the first evidence-based exploration of the wider public's understanding of the Middle Ages, Paul B. Sturtevant adapts sociological methods to answer these important questions. Based on extensive focus groups, the book details the ways - both formal and informal - that people learn about the medieval past and the many other ways that this informs, and even distorts, our present. In the process, Sturtevant also sheds light, in more general terms, onto the ways non-specialists learn about the past, and why understanding this is so important. The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination will be of interest to anyone working on medieval studies, medievalism, memory studies, medieval film studies, informal learning or public history Publisher It is often assumed that those outside of academia know very little about the Middle Ages. But the truth is not so simple. Non-specialists learn a great deal from the myriad medievalisms – post-medieval imaginings of the medieval world – that pervade our everyday culture. But what does the public really know? How do the conflicting medievalisms they consume contribute to their knowledge? And why is this important? In this book, the first evidence-based exploration of the wider public’s understanding of the Middle Ages, Paul B. Sturtevant adapts sociological methods to answer these important questions. Based on extensive focus groups, the book details the ways – both formal and informal – that people learn about the medieval past and the many other ways that this informs, and even distorts, our present. In the process, Sturtevant also sheds crucial light onto the ways non-specialists learn about the past, and why understanding this is so important.