Where are my Early Modern/Medieval folks?

[illcounsel]

Just wanted to start a thread to see what other E.M./Med. people were around this year and what y'all were interested in working on in grad school. What is peaking your interest right now? What books are you reading or want to read once school starts up?

 

 

[LOiseauRouge]

Hi, @illcounsel! I am interested in Ecocriticism and Gender Studies in Medieval and Early Modern French Lit. I really love Animal Studies as well. I've actually been reading some essays on E.M. Japanese writings on animals and perspectives that differ from the West. I read a lot of Le Roman d'Alexandre last semester and would love to read more now that I have a bit of time. Definitely interested in Voltaire as well! This is technically "Medievalism" as opposed to Medieval Studies, but I have also been reading Travels in Hyperreality by Umberto Eco.

Outside of Med./E.M., I have been listening to an audiobook by Derrida called Circonfession! 

[illcounsel]

@LOiseauRouge Wow!!! It looks like we have a lot of overlap in our interests! I haven't spent too much time with Animal Studies yet, more so landscape/environment, but would really like to do so in my future studies. I look forward to reading "The Accommodated Animal" now that I have a little more breathing room with applications finished.  Any good essay recommendations for the Japanese writings you were talking about? I am afraid most of the texts that I have read have been firmly Western. 

[LOiseauRouge]

@illcounsel How cool! What have you looked at in regards to landscape/environment studies? I took an Environmental Literary Criticism course in undergrad and used place studies a fair bit for that, really enjoyed it! My undergrad thesis ended up being more about animal studies and the environment, specifically in terms of science fiction literature. I put my Japanese readings on hold for a bit due to an interview request at one of my unis - been trying to prep for that! But I was reading "Modern Japanese Writers Encounter the West: The Impact of Experiences Abroad on Nagai Kafū and Arishima Takeo", a master's thesis by R. M. Groom, but I actually really enjoyed the page on About Japan's website entitled Japanese Literature and the Environment. Less academic, but very interesting. To prep for my interview I was reading "Untranslating the Anthropocene" by Phillip Usher, as he is my POI at the school I'm interviewing at. I've read some of his early modern work, but not his ecocritical writings, so it's exciting to see that side of his research! 

[MetaphysicalDrama]

I'm interested in medieval/early modern literature.  My MA thesis was on Spenser and the medieval tradition of translatio studii et imperii.  Some of the books which have really caught my attention are Grafting Helen, The Poetics of Translatio Studii and Conjointure, Poetic License, Poetic Authority, and The Pain of Reformation.  Ultimately, I'm interested in Spenser's grafting of the Arthuriana and his attitude toward the Arthurian myth of Tudor origins.  

Edited February 4, 2019 by MetaphysicalDrama

[amphilanthus]

hi all! early modern person here. super excited to finally notice this thread and discover more folks on here studying the medieval/early modern. I'm focused on early modern women's writing, particularly closet drama, and the adaptive ways in which many of these women wrote - interested in questions of translation as authorship, questions of performance, and the ways women writers construct/engage with their heroines.

tbh I haven't been doing nearly enough reading recently and I badly need to, so I'm really excited to take some inspiration from this thread. two of my own go-to recommendations are Privacy, Playreading, and Women's Closest Drama by Marta Straznicky and Playing Spaces in Early Women's Drama by Alison Findlay, both of which are really exhilarating and perfect for anyone who's curious about women's closet drama.

[illcounsel]

5 hours ago, amphilanthus said:

 I haven't been doing nearly enough reading recently and I badly need to, so I'm really excited to take some inspiration from this thread. two of my own go-to recommendations are Privacy, Playreading, and Women's Closest Drama by Marta Straznicky and Playing Spaces in Early Women's Drama by Alison Findlay, both of which are really exhilarating and perfect for anyone who's curious about women's closet drama.

Hi! Welcome. Your interests sound fascinating. I have to add these to my to-read list. Also, congratulations on your acceptance! 

[illcounsel]

I am interested in blending queer theory and ecocriticsm in the Early Modern period. A new-ish field has emerged around "queer ecologies", but has focused on contemporary sources. I am interested in extending this practice back to Shakespeare and Milton as a way to combat the trans-historical process of 'othering' both nature and the queer body. 

In terms of early modern readings, Homosexuality in Renaissance England by Alan Bray and Shakesqueer have inspired me a lot. 

[amphilanthus]

15 hours ago, illcounsel said:

Hi! Welcome. Your interests sound fascinating. I have to add these to my to-read list. Also, congratulations on your acceptance! 

thank you, your interests are really intriguing as well! sounds like exciting and much-needed work. I'll definitely be adding your suggestions to my to-read list, too. I'm currently trying to bulk up my familiarity with queer theory and the early modern given the obvious ties to women's writing, but it's not a super strong spot for me, so I'm collecting recommendations along those lines. may have to go ahead and order shakesqueer right now!

[LOiseauRouge]

18 hours ago, illcounsel said:

I am interested in blending queer theory and ecocriticsm in the Early Modern period. A new-ish field has emerged around "queer ecologies", but has focused on contemporary sources. I am interested in extending this practice back to Shakespeare and Milton as a way to combat the trans-historical process of 'othering' both nature and the queer body. 

In terms of early modern readings, Homosexuality in Renaissance England by Alan Bray and Shakesqueer have inspired me a lot. 

That's my same area of interest! But for me, it's with French medieval and early modern texts ^^ I'll check out Homosexuality in Renaissance England, that sounds really cool!

[illcounsel]

2 hours ago, LOiseauRouge said:

 I'll check out Homosexuality in Renaissance England, that sounds really cool!

It is so great. Without a doubt the foundational text of a lot of what I am interested in. I hope that some of it would apply to French literature as well.

[dreamumlifdon]

Anglo-Saxonist here! I am particularly interested in pagan and Christian dissonance in Old English literature and Anglo-Saxon sexuality. I am currently working on the issue of gender in Beowulf. 

Old English always seems to be the odd man out in terms of research interests, so I'm hoping the small quantity of interested researchers doesn't hurt my odds for admission too much! 

[Ramus]

On 2/4/2019 at 6:04 PM, illcounsel said:

I am interested in blending queer theory and ecocriticsm in the Early Modern period. A new-ish field has emerged around "queer ecologies", but has focused on contemporary sources. I am interested in extending this practice back to Shakespeare and Milton as a way to combat the trans-historical process of 'othering' both nature and the queer body. 

In terms of early modern readings, Homosexuality in Renaissance England by Alan Bray and Shakesqueer have inspired me a lot. 

A fair amount of work (though by no means exhaustive) has been done in this area of late. Take a peek at Vin Nardizzi's "Shakespeare's Queer Pastoral Ecology: Alienation Around Arden," ISLE (2016). This recording of a panel at SAA a couple years back may also be of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVgx9-6wTOE. Joseph Campana's paper, the first on the panel, is especially good. 

 

[illcounsel]

22 hours ago, Ramus said:

A fair amount of work (though by no means exhaustive) has been done in this area of late. Take a peek at Vin Nardizzi's "Shakespeare's Queer Pastoral Ecology: Alienation Around Arden," ISLE (2016). This recording of a panel at SAA a couple years back may also be of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVgx9-6wTOE. Joseph Campana's paper, the first on the panel, is especially good. 

 

Thank you for this information. I am really excited to get back to school and re immerse myself in all the current scholarship. Since I graduate in 2015, I have had some trouble keeping up with new developments in the field without access to journals and texts. I am going to try to use this summer to catch-up with how the field has shifted since my graduated. I will keep the sources you posted in mind. 

[jillcicle]

*waves*. I do 12th/13th c., paleography and codicology, dig. hum. (Python corpus analysis), and medievalism studies. Been shifting gear to the latter two since my MA, so I just finished Medievalism: Key Critical Terms and can't recommend it enough. I am currently reading pulp fiction and hiding in bed from my crippling certainty I will be rejected from all the programs I applied to. ?

[Norse_Medievalist]

Hello! I'm so happy to find other medievalists!!

I'm applying for the Ph.D this fall, just finishing up my MA. I'm interested in Old English and Old Norse. I'm a sucker for the sagas. I also adore Arthurian literature and it's what originally brought me to medieval literature. I normally focus on the mysticism present in medieval literature as well as the different roles of gender and sexuality. I'm still figuring out what I'm looking forward to reading when I continue forward, though the last thing I read that was in my field was The Saga of Burnt Njal.