Literature & Literary Studies

Fantastic histories

Medieval fairy narratives and the limits of wonder

by Victoria Flood

Description

Fantastic Histories explores the political and cultural contexts of the entry of fairies to the historical record in twelfth century England, and the subsequent uses of fairy narratives in both insular and continental history and romance. It traces the uses of the fairy as a contested marker of historicity and fictionality in the histories of Gerald of Wales and Walter Map, the continental mirabilia of Gervase of Tilbury, and the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century French Mélusine romances and their early English reception. Working across insular and continental source material, Fantastic Histories explores the practices of history-writing, fiction-making, and the culturally determined boundaries of wonder that defined the limits of medieval history.

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Reviews

A study of the relationship between medieval history and fiction, exploring the political and cultural contexts of the entry of fairies to the historical record in twelfth century England, and the subsequent uses of fairy narratives in both insular and continental history and romance. Beginning with accounts of fairy mothers in the works of Walter Map and Gerald of Wales, the book traces the uses of the fairy as a contested marker of historicity and fictionality in the continental mirabilia of Gervase of Tilbury, and the fourteenth and fifteenth century French Mélusine romances and their early English reception. Working across insular and continental source material, Fantastic Histories explores the practices of history-writing, fiction-making, and the culturally determined boundaries of wonder that defined the limits of medieval history, and its relationship to the dominant political and cultural interests that determined whose fantasies were false and whose were the stuff of history.

Author Biography

Victoria Flood is Associate Professor in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at the University of Birmingham

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date May 2024
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526164148 / 1526164140
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatPrint PDF
  • Pages296
  • ReadershipGeneral/trade
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions216 X 138 mm
  • Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 5567
  • SeriesManchester Medieval Literature and Culture
  • Reference Code14648

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