Popularizing Medieval knowledge in fantasy Worldbuilding
12th & 13th June 2023
Universität Siegen
Herrengarten
AH-A 217/18
The workshop will be held in English.
This workshop aims to investigate the transformation of knowledge about the Middle Ages in popular fantasy and their construction of neomedieval secondary worlds. Objects of research are therefore recent examples of intermedia fantasy (TV-Series Films, Video Games, Board Games) which illustrate the popularization of medieval history, literature, and mythology. Research questions aim at the specific conditions and the framing of such neomedieval fantasy world-building, and the inclusion of contemporary discourses of identity politics (race, gender). Furthermore, the varying medial requirements, e.g., the interactivity of video and board games, are taken into account. In the transformation of academic knowledge about the Middle Ages, fantasy media generate a specific sample of knowledge which gradually dissolves traditional high-low discourse. As a more precise terminology has shown itself necessary, this workshop will therefore suggest a distinction between "popular knowledge" and "popularized knowledge" in contrast to "academic knowledge". Finally, the workshop intends to discuss the proposal of the "Neomedieval Grammar", which as a methodical tool provides systematic criteria for the analysis of worldbuilding in High Fantasy and its specific popularization strategies.
Programm
13:30
Get Together
14:00
Welcome and Introduction
Angela Schwarz & Hans Rudolf Velten (Siegen)
14:30
“Witcher? It´s all about the Middle Ages” – Gamer‘s Perspective on Neomedieval Fantasy Games
Tom Pinsker (Siegen)
15:30
Coffee Break
16:00
Worldbuilding in modern Boardgames - Christian Mythology in Time of Legends: Joan of Arc
Lukas Boch (Münster)
17:00
“It’s not a dandy candy dragon age”: Perceptions of the ‘Medieval’ and the (Un-)Authenticity of Gender and Queerness in Digital Games
Aurelia Brandenburg (Bern)
09:00
Popularizing Academic Knowledge of the Middle Ages
Theresa Specht (Siegen)
10:00
Coffee Break
10:30
Re-Imagining Viking Voyages in Fantasy Worlds
Helen Young (Deakin, Melbourne)
11:30
Worldbuilding in Fantasy: A Neomedieval Grammar
Hans Rudolf Velten (Siegen)