Violence, Memory, and History: Geoffrey of Monmouth and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-344
Author(s):  
Jonathan Brent
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Geoffrey Of Monmouth ◽  
King Arthur ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Kazuo Ishiguro ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

Kazuo Ishiguro has suggested that his work of medieval fantasy, The Buried Giant (2015), draws on a “quasi-historical” King Arthur, in contrast to the Arthur of legend. This article reads Ishiguro’s novel against the medieval work that codified the notion of an historical King Arthur, Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1139). Geoffrey’s History offered a largely fictive account of the British past that became the most successful historiographical phenomenon of the English Middle Ages. The Buried Giant offers an interrogation of memory that calls such “useful” constructions of history into question. The novel deploys material deriving from Geoffrey’s work while laying bear its methodology; the two texts speak to each other in ways sometimes complementary, sometimes deconstructive. That Ishiguro’s critique can be applied to Geoffrey’s History points to recurrent strategies of history-making, past and present, whereby violence serves as a mechanism for the creation of historical form.

The Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte- Maure: A Translation. Translated by Glyn S. Burgess, Douglas Kelly. Woodbridge, UK, and Rochester, NY: D. S. Brewer, 2017. Gallica, 41. 486 pp.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 394-396
Author(s):  
Raymond J. Cormier
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
British History ◽  
Geoffrey Of Monmouth ◽  
Poetic Form ◽  
Trojan War ◽  
Roman De Troie ◽  
History Of ◽  
Extensive Introduction ◽  
Roman De Brut ◽  
Roman De Thebes

In his Roman de Brut (1155), the Norman Robert Wace of Caen recounts the founding of Britain by Brutus of Troy to the end of legendary British history, while adapting freely the History of the Kings of Britain (1136) by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Wace’s Brut inaugurated a new genre, at least in part, commonly known as the “romances of antiquity” (romans d'antiquité). The Roman de Troie by Benoît de Sainte-Maure, dating to around 1165, is, along with the Roman de Thèbes and the Roman d’Énéas, one of the three such romances dealing with themes from antiquity. These creations initiated the subjects, plots and structures of the genre, which subsequently flowered under authors such as Chrétien de Troyes. As an account of the Trojan War, Benoît’s version of necessity deals with war and its causes, how it was fought and what its ultimate consequences were for the combatants. How to explain its success? The author chose the standard and successful poetic form of the era—octosyllabic rhyming couplets; he was fond of extended descriptions; he could easily recount the intensity of personal struggles; and, above all he was fascinated by the trials and tribulations of love, a passion that affects several prominent warriors (among them Paris and his love for Helen, and Troilus and his affection for Briseida). All these elements combined to contour this romance in which events from the High Middle Ages were presented as a likeness of the poet’s own feudal and courtly spheres. This long-awaited new translation, the first into English, is accompanied by an extensive introduction and six-page outline of the work; two appendices (on common words, and a list of known Troie manuscripts); nearly twenty pages of bibliography; plus exhaustive indices of personal and geographical names and notes. As the two senior scholars assert (p. 3), By translating Benoît’s entire poem we seek to contribute to a greater appreciation of its composition and subject-matter, and thus to make available to a modern audience what medieval readers and audiences knew and appreciated.

THE HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE BALLET "THE WHITE-HAIRED GIRL"

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-91
Author(s):  
Chen Xinheng ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
Folk Songs ◽  
Folk Dance ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Chinese Opera ◽  
Chinese Leadership ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Classical Ballet

The article is devoted to the history of the creation of the ballet "The White-Haired Girl", which was included among the "exemplary productions" during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The plot of the ballet, based on class contradictions between landowners and peasants, has folklore origins: first it appeared in the novel, then the first national Chinese opera was created, later adapted for cinema and became the basis for the ballet. The ballet "The White-Haired Girl" was commissioned by Chinese leadership. It includes the historical facts of the class struggle and shows the formation of a personality ready to resist exploitation and fight for freedom for all. The ballet's music, composed by Yan Jinxuan, also includes revolutionary folk songs and numbers taken from the opera of the same name. Compared to the opera, the ballet enhances revolutionary features in the characters. The choreography harmoniously combines classical ballet pas with the characteristics of Chinese folk dance and martial arts. The ballet "The White-Haired Girl" is performed with ongoing success since its inception in 1965 to the present day and is rightly considered a "red classic" with a high ideology and artistry.

Pratiche coloniali. La tutela tra musealizzazione e monumentalizzazione nella Rodi "italiana" (1912-1926)

2012 ◽  
pp. 80-104
Author(s):  
Simona Troilo
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

Starting from the creation and development of the Archaeological museum of Rhodes (1914), the article analyses the birth of a colonial heritage consciousness in the Dodecanese. Italian colonial practices reinvented the history of this area focusing on the celebration of the Italian middle ages and an ideological usage of antiquarian objects. The article shows how this process affected the colonization itself, producing tensions and conflicts between colonizers and colonized. It also shows how mediations and negotiations among different subjects (individuals and institutions) contributed to define the new forms of dominion.

scholarly journals Greckie wpływy na powstanie Ustawy XII Tablic : (na marginesie glosy Accursiusa do D. 1,2,2,4)

1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 39-45
Author(s):  
Witold Wołodkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Roman Law ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
Total Lack ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Middle Ages

The problem of Greek influence on the creation and the content of the Twelve Tables appeared several times in Roman lawyers’ records. Amongst few jurists, Pomponius wrote about the influence of Greek cities law on the Twelve Tables in the famous fragment on the history of Roman law from his Enchiridion (D. 1,2,2,3-4). Accursius gave an ample gloss to the fragment. He cites an anecdote on the creation of the Twelve Tables: „Greeks had delegated a wise man to visit Rome in order to estimate, after a discussion with its inhabitants, whether they are mature enough to be presented with the law that was prepared. Romans reached the decision that a fool should confront the Greek: there would be no damage to them if he lost, they thought. Obviously, both had to speak by signs. „The Greek started the duel raising one finger what meant that he believed in one God. The Roman took it as an attack on his eye and showed two fingers, which made three with his thumb, in order to be dangerous for both eyes of his adversary. However, the visitor understood the gesture as an acceptance of faith in one God with addition that He is triune. Referring to that, the Greek showed an open palm - it signified that everything is known to the Almighty. Yet, the fool thought that it is to strike his hand and raised the fist to demonstrate that he was going to defend himself. The wise man from Greece understood it as a statement that God has human fortune in His hand and reigns over all affairs of this world. „After this conversation, the Greek concluded that Roman society is developed in the degree they can be gifted with the prepared statue” . The story is one of the first notes on Greek influence on the Twelve Tables. It shows the total lack o f historic perpsective that was shared by glossators in the Middle Ages. The article contains also some references to the historiography of the Greek influence on the Twelve Tables.

scholarly journals Den moderne romans middelalderlige rødder

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (103) ◽  
pp. 14-37
Author(s):  
Jørgen Bruhn
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Medieval Romance ◽  
History Of The Novel ◽  
Modern Novel ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
The Social ◽  
Early Expression ◽  
History Of ◽  
The One

The Medieval Roots of the Modern NovelIn this article, Jørgen Bruhn has a double target for his investigations. Firstly, he aims at distinguishing between two different historical models for the novel genre: on the one hand, a ‘short’ history which claims that the modern novel was born in the Renaissance. A ‘long’ history, on the other hand, asserts that the novel has a history going back not only to the middle ages but even antiquity. M.M. Bakhtin is a main contributor to a ‘long’ history of the novel, and in order to justify the use of Bakhtinian ideas in the study of the medieval romance, Bruhn points to the crucial insights of Bakhtin’s texts regarding the medieval romance.In the second part of the article Bruhn goes further into a specific romance, Chrétien de Troyes’ Erec et Enide from the second half of the 12th century. There are strong elements of metafictionality, a budding understanding of the social determination of human existence and a clear and sophisticated reflection on generic conventions, including the medieval tendency of referring to oneself as only a mediator or scribe. Therefore, Bruhn concludes that Chrétien’s romances in many ways can be characterized as an early expression of what Bakhtin usually called novelness, and that Chrétien himself must be characterized a modern »author«.

The space of “the eternal house” in the creative history of M.A. Bulgakov’s novel “Master and Margarita”

2021 ◽  
pp. 107-118
Author(s):  
Elena Yu. Kolysheva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Writing Process ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Main Text ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Creative Will ◽  
Master And Margarita

One of the important questions in bulgakovian studies is connected with the space of “the eternal house”, peace, which the master had deserved. The author of this paper try to understand the writer’s intention based on a textual analysis of the novel. In our work, we rely on the system of editions of the novel that we have established and its main text, reflecting the last creative will of the author to the fullest extent [1]. The line “The Master – Margarita” is outlined in drafts of the 1931 novel and is developed in its second edition (1932–1936). The third (1936) and fourth (1937) editions are incomplete — they don’t have the episodes considered in this paper. Therefore, our study uses the texts of drafts of 1931, the second, fifth (last handwritten, 1937–1938) and the sixth (final, 1938–1940) editions of the novel. The draft texts are conveyed by dynamic transcription, which will make visible the process of writer’s work on the creation and allow us to see the formation of the author’s intention. Graphic conventions are used for this: a piece of text crossed out by the writer — [text]; an insert during the writing process — text; an insert crossed out — [text]; a later insert — {text}; a later insert crossed out — {text}; a conjecture — <text>; reliability of the transmitted author’s text — <sic>; the end of a page and the transition to the next one are indicated by two straight vertical lines ||.

LEONID DESYATNIKOV. CHAMBER OPERA "POOR LIZA" (History of creation. Libretto and literary source)

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-21
Author(s):  
Diana Aksinenko ◽  
◽  
Elena Bogatyreva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Chamber Opera ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Literary Source ◽  
The Poor ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation

The article tells us about chamber opera "Poor Liza" by L. Desyatnikov, which is based on the novel by N. Karamzin. Also a brief description of the composer's works is given. The history of the creation and releases of the "Poor Lisa" is reviewed. The typical features of the chamber opera genre are revealed. The genre specifics of the work are analyzed from the dramatical point of view with the help of a comparative analysis (textual) of the literary source and the text of the libretto.

Medievalist Comics and the American Century

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Bishop
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Comic Book ◽  
The United States ◽  
King Arthur ◽  
Robin Hood ◽  
American Century ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rugged Individualism

The comic book has become an essential icon of the “American Century,” an era defined by optimism in the face of change and by the recognition of the intrinsic value of democracy and modernization. For many, the Middle Ages stand as an antithesis to these ideals, and yet medievalist comics have emerged, endured, even thrived alongside their superhero counterparts. Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant emerged from an America at odds with monarchy but still in love with King Arthur. Green Arrow is the continuation of a long fascination with Robin Hood that has become as central to the American identity as it has to the British. The Mighty Thor reflects the legacy of Germanic migration into the United States. The rugged individualism of Conan the Barbarian owes more to the western cowboy than it does to the continental knight-errant, and in the narrative of Red Sonja we can trace a parallel history of Feminism. This study began as a Kluge Fellowship at the Library of Congress (the worlds’ largest repository of comic books). It offers a reception history of medievalist comics, contextualizing them against a greater backdrop of modern American history. It illuminates some of the ways in which we use our imagined past to navigate the present, and it plots some possible futures as we transition into the “Asian Century.”

Incipit primum principale a cronicula Brute

1873 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 6-17
Keyword(s):  
Geoffrey Of Monmouth ◽  
King Arthur ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
William The Conqueror

[This First Part consists in the MS. of folios Ob to 19a, and contains the history of Britain from Brute to the defeat of Harold by William the Conqueror. Ricart himself says it is “a cronicula Brute,” and he appears to have followed Geoffrey of Monmouth as far as Constantine, the successor to King Arthur. In his abridgement from this author he has made several variations, omitting certain names altogether, and altering others, as Aurylambros for Aurelins Ambrosius, Donebaude for Dunwallo Mulmutius, Corynbatrus for Gurgiunt Brabtruc, &c. Ricart often gives the number of years a king reigned where Geoffrey does not, the figures seldom agreeing even in those cases in which Geoffrey gives them. It is curious too that though Geoffrey accounts, after his fashion, for the founding of many towns in Britain, he does not once mention Bristol, although his history was dedicated to that very Robert Earl of Gloucester who played so important a part in the annals of the city. Ricart, however, was an apt pupil, and, not to suffer his famous city to be behind others in antiquity, he introduces the building of Bristol by Brynne, one of the British kings.

Ordinamenti by Pavel Saltzman: a novel about Central Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-113
Author(s):  
Eleonora F. Shafranskaya ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Educational Discourse ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Middle Ages

The article presents a mythopoetic analysis of Pavel Saltzman’s novel “Central Asia in the Middle Ages (or the Middle Ages in Central Asia)” (1930–1950), published for the first time in 2018. The content of the article is aimed at practical educational discourse related to a number of literary problems: the study of the work of a previously unknown, but very significant for the history of literature writer; the study of Russian literature as the text devoted to the different ethnic culture (the existential myth by Saltzman is considered as binary opposition personified in the images of the bird Simurg and the giant Zakhak which is actualized in the literature of the XXI century — in the novels by G. Yakhina “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” and V. Medvedev “Zahhok”, unexpectedly rendering new overtones to modern literature); the orientalist and postorientalist studies (comparing prose Saltzman with the work of his contemporaries — A. Platonov, L. Solovyov, S. Krzhyzhanovsky. The author comes to the conclusion that Salzman’s text, despite the theme and title of the novel, is an example of neorientalist prose: all the patterns of traditional orientalism are given by Salzman differently, not from the standard point of view of a Western person.

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