Essays on the post-modern reception and interpretation of the Middle Ages, This volume continues the theme of its predecessor, addressing how the Middle Ages have been invoked to score political points, particularly with reference to the rise of populism fueled by recent recessions and a pandemic. The nine essays in the first portion of the volume directly address political medievalism in Tariq Ali's 2005 novel on Mideast instability, A Sultan in Palermo; attempts by twentieth-century Czech politicians to anchor their causes in the fifteenth-century Czech hero Petr Chelcicky; far-right deployment of Robin Hood memes to slander Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama; the ways Rory Mullarkey's 2017 play Saint George and the Dragon comments onEnglish national identity relative to Brexit; how national stereotypes have come into play amid cross-channel reporting on Brexit; nationalism in the medievalizing German monument to their fallen at the 1942 Battle of El Alamein;the English-speaking world's reception of Anthony Munday's 1589 book on conduct, Palmendos; nationalism in the self-characterization of two contemporary British Pagan movements; and how various communities in the television series Game of Thrones comment on medieval and/or contemporary nations. Nor are politics entirely absent from the final four articles in the volume, as they examine attempts to promote such particular agendas as toxic masculinity in Game of Thrones; misogyno-feminism there and in the George R.R. Martin book series on which the television program is based, A Song of Ice and Fire; the potential for audience self-realization amid the tension between the individual and the collective in The Mere Wife, Maria Dahvana Headley's 2018 adaptation of Beowulf; and ideal individual and collective behavior as modeled in the Ringling Brothers' 1912-13 spectacles about Joan of Arc.

The Road to Wicked examines the long life of the Oz myth. It is both a study in cultural sustainability- the capacity of artists, narratives, art forms, and genres to remain viable over time-and an examination of the marketing machinery and consumption patterns that make such sustainability possible. Drawing on the fields of macromarketing, consumer behavior, literary and cultural studies, and theories of adaption and remediation, the authors examine key adaptations and extensions of Baum's 1900 novel. These include the original Oz craze, the MGM film and its television afterlife, Wicked and its extensions, and Oz the Great and Powerful-Disney's recent (and highly lucrative) venture that builds on the considerable success of Wicked. At the end of the book, the authors offer a foundational framework for a new theory of cultural sustainability and propose a set of explanatory conditions under which any artistic experience might achieve it.

The Road to Wicked examines the long life of the Oz myth. It is both a study in cultural sustainability- the capacity of artists, narratives, art forms, and genres to remain viable over time-and an examination of the marketing machinery and consumption patterns that make such sustainability possible. Drawing on the fields of macromarketing, consumer behavior, literary and cultural studies, and theories of adaption and remediation, the authors examine key adaptations and extensions of Baum's 1900 novel. These include the original Oz craze, the MGM film and its television afterlife, Wicked and its extensions, and Oz the Great and Powerful-Disney's recent (and highly lucrative) venture that builds on the considerable success of Wicked. At the end of the book, the authors offer a foundational framework for a new theory of cultural sustainability and propose a set of explanatory conditions under which any artistic experience might achieve it.

Whether on the big screen or small, films featuring the American Civil War are among the most classic and controversial in motion picture history. From D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) to Free State of Jones (2016), the war has provided the setting, ideologies, and character archetypes for cinematic narratives of morality, race, gender, and nation, as well as serving as historical education for a century of Americans. In The American Civil War on Film and TV: Blue and Gray in Black and White and Color, Douglas Brode, Shea T. Brode, and Cynthia J. Miller bring together nineteen essays by a diverse array of scholars across the disciplines to explore these issues. The essays included here span a wide range of films, from the silent era to the present day, including Buster Keaton's The General (1926), Red Badge of Courage (1951), Glory (1989), Gettysburg (1993), and Cold Mountain (2003), as well as television mini-series The Blue and The Gray (1982) and John Jakes' acclaimed North and South trilogy (1985-86). As an accessible volume to dedicated to a critical conversation about the Civil War on film, The American Civil War on Film and TV will appeal to not only to scholars of film, military history, American history, and cultural history, but to fans of war films and period films, as well.

"Whether discussing how the figure of Arthur was appropriated by Welsh lords to justify acts of rebellions or by English kings to support a centralized monarchy, Aronstein subtly and intelligently recognizes complex interrelationships between history and art."--Martin Shichtman, Eastern Michigan University "A must-have for all those interested in King Arthur--from the amateur enthusiast to the established scholar."--Dorsey Armstrong, Purdue University The legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table permeate our culture: we find them in novels, movie parodies, and even the American government. Yet beneath and before it all lies a deep literary tradition that has influenced history, art, and culture over the centuries. Examining the legend at its very source, "An Introduction to British Arthurian Narrative" covers over 400 years and discusses a broad range of romances, histories, and parodies written about King Arthur in Britain during the medieval period. The modern Anglo-American version of the Arthurian tale stems from Sir Thomas Malory's fifteenth-century compendium "Le Morte D'Arthur," which was written at the end of the tale's first period of widespread popularity, which began in the early twelfth century. Susan Aronstein demonstrates that, as Arthur's transformation from a "leader of battles" in early histories, to a powerful chieftain in Welsh tales, and, finally, into England's "once and future king," at every point, these tales reflected the ongoing contest for sovereignty over the island of Britain--and the very definition of "British." Susan Aronstein, professor of English at the University of Wyoming, is the author of "Hollywood Knights: Arthurian Cinema and the Politics of Nostalgia" as well as numerous articles on medieval and modern Arthurian narratives.

Whether on the big screen or small, films featuring the American Civil War are among the most classic and controversial in motion picture history. From D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) to Free State of Jones (2016), the war has provided the setting, ideologies, and character archetypes for cinematic narratives of morality, race, gender, and nation, as well as serving as historical education for a century of Americans. In The American Civil War on Film and TV: Blue and Gray in Black and White and Color, Douglas Brode, Shea T. Brode, and Cynthia J. Miller bring together nineteen essays by a diverse array of scholars across the disciplines to explore these issues. The essays included here span a wide range of films, from the silent era to the present day, including Buster Keaton's The General (1926), Red Badge of Courage (1951), Glory (1989), Gettysburg (1993), and Cold Mountain (2003), as well as television mini-series The Blue and The Gray (1982) and John Jakes' acclaimed North and South trilogy (1985-86). As an accessible volume to dedicated to a critical conversation about the Civil War on film, The American Civil War on Film and TV will appeal to not only to scholars of film, military history, American history, and cultural history, but to fans of war films and period films, as well.

The legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table permeate our culture: we find them in novels, movie parodies, and even the American government. Yet beneath and before it all lies a deep literary tradition that has influenced history, art, and culture over the centuries. Examining the legend at its very source, An Introduction to British Arthurian Narrative covers over 400 years and discusses a broad range of romances, histories, and parodies written about King Arthur in Britain during the medieval period. The modern Anglo-American version of the Arthurian tale stems from Sir Thomas Malory's fifteenth-century compendium Le Morte D'Arthur, which was written at the end of the tale's first period of widespread popularity, which began in the early twelfth century. Susan Aronstein demonstrates that, as Arthur's transformation from a "leader of battles" in early histories, to a powerful chieftain in Welsh tales, and, finally, into England's "once and future king", at every point, these tales reflected the ongoing contest for sovereignty over the island of Britain--and the very definition of "British".