Dante meets MTV: Studying Medieval Literature in a Post-Medieval Context

Dante meets MTV: Studying Medieval Literature in a Post-Medieval Context
41st Anniversary Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
April 7-11, 2010
Montreal, Quebec - Hilton Bonaventure

This roundtable aims to create a discussion about the role and
methods of the study of medieval
literature in the contemporary world. In the modern context,
seemingly so far removed from the
medieval context, scholars and students of medieval literature are
presented with numerous
problems as we try to read, interpret, and understand across the
chronological divide. How do we
approach medieval literature and culture from an analytical
perspective? How can we (or can we at
all) appropriately use modern interpretative tools with medieval
texts? As teachers, how do we
help students approach the radically different worldview of the
Middle Ages and appreciate
medieval literature for what it is rather than what it is not? What
is the relationship between the
modern reader or student and the medieval writer, and how can that
relationship be drawn out in
productive ways? How far can that relationship then be pushed in the
interests of bringing
medieval literature to a modern audience? The potential answers to
these questions, and the
methods of answering, involve perceptions of relevance, historicity,
aesthetics, cultural
communication, and translation as well as textual interpretation.
This roundtable welcomes not
only case studies representing specific instances and examples of
approaches to medieval
literature but also ideas related to wider pedagogical issues and
methods. Please send 250-word
abstracts in English to Anna Strowe, astrowe@complit.umass.edu.


Deadline: September 30, 2009
Please include with your abstract:
Name and Affiliation
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
A/V requirements (if any; $10 handling fee)

The 41st Annual Convention will feature approximately 350 sessions,
as well as dynamic speakers
and cultural events. Details and the complete Call for Papers for
the 2010 Convention will be
posted in June: www.nemla.org.

Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA
session; however panelists
can only present one paper (panel or seminar). Convention
participants may present a paper at a
panel and also present at a creative session or participate in a roundtable.

Travel to Canada now requires a passport for U.S. citizens. Please
get your passport application in
early.