Medievalism Out of Bounds


The nineteenth- and twentieth-century revivals of medieval European literary, artistic, and architectural styles have been copiously studied. The intersection of medievalism in its various forms with reactionary politics, white supremacy, budding nationalism, religious awakening, and the circumvention of stagnant academic standards have long been established. The analysis of these intersections has been mostly conscripted within specific geographic parameters: Northwestern Europe and the Northeastern United States. This session seeks to explore the phenomenon of medievalism outside these boundaries, geographic or conceptual. It looks to expand and nuance our understanding of the cultural impact of the Middle Ages, broadly conceived, in modernity, beyond the scope of these topics and regions. In particular, it seeks to examine the role of medievalism in shaping artistic movements, regional design vernaculars, and cultural identities not traditionally considered within the orbit of its legacy. From Latin America to the Western United States, and from the Parisian avant garde to the collecting of Islamic art in Hawai‘i, this session sheds new light on the full scope and impact of that historic discourse.

Field of Study:






Chair:
James Eynon Fishburne,University of California, Los Angeles - jefishburne@gmail.com

Medievalism and Subversion in Degas’ Medieval War Scene
Noa Turel, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Racism and Medievalism in the Architecture of Prewar Los Angeles: The Case of UCLA
Alison Locke Perchuk, California State University Channel Islands
Evoking Medieval Islam at Shangri La: Doris Duke’s Art Collection and Home in Hawai‘i
Mariah Proctor-Tiffany, California State University, Long Beach