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Medievalism and Convergence Culture: Researching the Middle Ages for Fiction and Film
- Parergon
- Australian and New Zealand Association of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (Inc.)
- Volume 25, Number 2, 2008
- pp. 99-118
- 10.1353/pgn.0.0060
- Article
- Additional Information
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In contemporary global culture, the flow of information and knowledge about the medieval period facilitates the work of film-makers and novelists. Contemporary medievalism can be read as a kind of convergence culture, bringing together academic, creative, and popular modes of thinking about medieval culture. Analysis of the research behind Bryce Courtenay's novel Sylvia, and Brian Helgeland's film A Knight's Tale, shows how contemporary medievalist fictions draw freely on a range of medieval sources while ultimately privileging their own artistic decisions and imperatives. The increasingly blurred distinction between 'medieval' and 'medievalist' is an example of contemporary convergence culture.