The Medieval Association of the Midwest (MAM) is sponsoring a session at the International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, May 11-14, 2017, that may interest some among you. Please read on for description and information.

Medievalism and Don Quixote

As Tom Shippey defines it, “Medievalism is the study of responses to the Middle Ages at all periods since a sense of the mediaeval began to develop.” And one of the foundational works of Modernity emphatically constitutes just such a response. Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote is built upon a post-medieval scrutiny of the Middle Ages as they had come to be popularized so successfully in the books of chivalry. The popularity of these books is a crucial component, cultivating the familiarity required in order to parody, satirize, or lampoon. The complexities present in Cervantes’ treatment of the idealized Middle Ages drawn upon by the authors of books like Amadís de Gaula and Palmerín de Oliva invite study and the creative application of the latest approaches and techniques. It is MAM’s aspiration that this panel will attract engaging scholarship that may prove to be absorbing, enquiring, and insightful. The topic also has the benefit of being new to the stage of the Congress. Don Quixote is a knight who has been absent from our proceedings too long, and who still has much to teach us about the interaction between culture, history, identity, language, and poetics.

Please submit a one-page abstract and the Participant Information Form (https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions). Submissions should be sent by Sept 15 to Carlos Hawley, at:Carlos.Hawley@ndsu.edu.