Fanfiction and the Pre-Modern World Colloquium

 
Poster

The one-day colloquium, to be held on 13 July in St John's College Research Centre, 45 St Giles, explores the ways in which the modern studies of fanfiction and cosplay can shed light on our understanding of pre-modern culture. Rather than focusing on medievalism, we want to think about medieval and early modern material though the prism of modern fandom. Ever wondered if Lancelot was Malory's Mary Sue, or if Margery Kempe was cosplaying a virgin martyr, or whether a meta-level engagement with academic work is a kind of fanfic? Come and join like-minded colleagues  to test your ideas and hear brief informal presentations.

 

Programme

 

9:45-10:00 Registration and welcome

 

10:00-10:10 Introduction

 

10:10-11:15 Session 1: Mary Sue, Is That You?: Canon and Community

Fanfiction and Medieval Canon (Katarina Jonsson)

Shipping Jesus: Intimate relations with Christ in Late Medieval Mysticism (Einat Klafter)

Margery Kempe’s Therapeutic Fanfiction (Julie Dresvina)

Fangirls Doing It For Themselves: Competition and Collaboration in Medieval Sister-Books and Modern Fan Fiction(Godelinde Perk)

 

11:15-11:30 Break

 

11:30- 12:20 Session 2: Fandom in Tandem: Pre/Modern Readings of Genre

Myth and Fanfiction Between the Bible and Babylon: Some Theoretical Considerations(Marten Krijgsman)

Exploring Prophecy as Fan Fiction: Richard Brothers, his Female Rivals, and Reclaiming Scripture (Andrew Crome)

We Are the Knights Who Say Squee! Fans of King Arthur, 932 AD-Present (Vicki Blud)

 

12:20-13:00 Lunch

 

13:00-13:50 Session 3: Author-Ships: Applied Readings

The Conclusion of Grettis Saga: An homage to Béroul? (Rebecca Henderson)

De Mouchemberg’s Sequel to Argenis (Edwina Christie)

Visual Fanfic in Pre-modern Korea: a Popular Love Story Kuunmong, and Folding Screens (Yeogeun Kim)

 

13:50-14:10 Break

14:10-14:30 Fans in the Academy? (Alicia Spencer-Hall)

14:30-14:35 Concluding remarks (Natasha Simonova)

14:35-15:20 Roundtable discussion (with tea/coffee):

(Do send us your questions and topics for discussion: these might include the usefulness of the pre-modern culture/fanfic pairing; where tradition, translation, adaptation stop and fanfic begins; future directions for this study; possibility of further events/ publications; ways to develop the website, etc.)

15:20-15:30 Ite, missa est (explicit feliciter)

 

The Colloquium is organised in association with Oxford Medieval Studies, sponsored by the Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH).