IDS 3457.001 Fall 2023 Johnson

L.P. Hartley’s 1953 novel The Go-Between famously opens with the sentence, “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” To what extent is this true? One of the chief aims of this course will be to explore whether this is a view shared by those who produced filmic versions of medieval literature in the 20thand 21st centuries. This is a course about adaptation, medievalism and the “Reel Middle Ages.” We will examine a body of medieval texts in their literary and cultural contexts, analyzing their reception and re-interpretation through the contemporary medium of film. We will learn about the theory and practice of film adaptation in general, and the transformation of medieval texts to film in particular. The complexity of our modern period’s medieval heritage requires much effort on our part to appreciate. This course attempts to facilitate a deeper appreciation and understanding of 20th and 21st century medievalism in one of our most influential media. The course is divided into three units, the first of which consists of an introduction to adaptation studies and adaptation theory, as well as medievalism and the medieval imaginary. The rest of that first unit and the remaining two units will each be devoted to a particular topic of filmic medievalism: the Old English epic poem Beowulf, the legends of King Arthur, and Robin Hood. We will be reading primary texts on those topics and watching one relevant adaptation each week.