The past as an imaginary world: the case of medievalism

Fimi, D. (2016) The past as an imaginary world: the case of medievalism. In: Wolf, M. J.P. (ed.) Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Subcreation Studies Anthology. Routledge: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY, pp. 46-68. ISBN 9781138942059

Abstract

This article is an intervention into the newly-emerging interdisciplinary field of worldbuilding, which encompasses literary studies, film and TV, and video gaming. The article explores the construction of the medieval past as a process of building an imaginary world by focusing on the work of Thomas Chatterton, Tolkien, and Umberto Eco. The essay navigates the slippery boundaries between fabrication and forgery, romantic nationalism, active fantasy-building, as well as post-modern imaginings of the Middle Ages. The essay led to a TLS article (2017), and invitations to contribute entries to the new Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds (2017). Following this article, I also co-edited (with Professor Thomas Honegger) the volume Sub-creating Arda: World-building in J.R.R. Tolkien's Works, its Precursors, and Legacies (2019).

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Fimi, Dr Dimitra
• Authors: Fimi, D.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General); P Language and Literature > PR English literature
• College/School: College of Arts > School of Critical Studies > English Literature
• Publisher: Routledge
• ISBN: 9781138942059