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Title: Medievalism and the Modernist Temper: Edited by R. Howard Bloch and Stephen G. Nichols by R. Howard Bloch, Stephen G. Nichols ISBN: 0-8018-5087-8 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: February, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent collection of essays on a neglected topic
Comment: The editors of this volume are two of the most important scholars in the field of Medieval Studies today. They are also both exponents of a new approach to the study of the Middle Ages that has come to be called "The New Philology". While this is neither the time nor the place to engage in a discussion of this approach, suffice to say that the essays in this book are informed by a theoretically and critically informed postmodern sensibility. Happily, however, the focus of these essays is *not* theory in and of itself-- the essays are about specific texts and well-defined topics. Even more happily, the essays avoid the jargon-laden impenetrability that too often comes with other worksn that have a postmodern bent to them. The writing here is quite clear and direct, at least as scholarly prose goes. (That said, this still is *primarily* a book for scholars, rather than for a general reading public. It tends to assume familiarity with major works of medieval literature, with the names of famous medieval scholars-- especially those of the 19th century-- and the general history of medieval scholarship as a whole.)

So, that said, what is this book actually about? A lot of things, actually... It contains many short articles on a variety of topics that fall under the rubric of the title, "Medievalism and the Modernist Temper". This means that the book is not about the Middle Ages, per se. Rather, it is about *medievalism*-- that is to say, the scholarly study of the Middle Ages. While medieval scholarship takes the Middle Ages as the object of its study, the fact remains that medievalism is a distinctly modern phenomenon. In spite of some stirrings during the 18th century Enlightenment, the scholarly study of the middle ages did not begin in earnest until the 19th century. Not only were many "classic" texts of medieval literature completely unknown until the 19th century (e.g. Beowulf, the Song of Roland), many of the terms we use today to describe medieval phenomena and values were, in fact, coined in the 19th century. The phrase "courtly love" (a.k.a. amour courtois) for instance, was not used the Middle Ages; it was invented in the 1860s by a French philologist named Gaston Paris.

"Medievalism & the Modernist Temper" examines some of the ways in which the study of the Middle Ages has been shaped by *modern* individuals acting within *modern* institutions, that have been motivated by *modern* beliefs, assumptions, and concerns. As such, I suppose this could be understood as a kind of 'meta-history of the Middle Ages'-- one that examines how the concerns of the modern world have shaped the way in which scholars have come to view the medieval world in the past 200 years. The essays variously explore issues, such as how the experience of the Napoleonic wars shaped the ways in which the young German philologist Jakob Grimm came to view Romance languages and literature, and how the loves and frustrations in the personal life of Gaston Paris and his friends led him to formulate his ideas about 'courtly love' in the way that he did.

All in all, These essays offer a striking set of examples about how modernity shapes what we consider to be medieval, and how the so-called 'private' experiences and values of modern scholars shape the character of their 'public' scholarship.

I only have two (mild) criticism of this otherwise excellent collection. First, it tends to focus, almost exclusively, on those medievalist scholars whose research lay in the area of language and literature, as opposed to those who worked in the realm of political/economic/religious history. Second, it tends to focus primarily on French scholars (e.g. Gaston Paris, Paul Meyer, Leon Gautier, etc.)-- and other scholars who studied medieval French languages/literatures (e.g. Jakob Grimm), to the exclusion of scholarship in other fields. Still, the focus on French 'literary medievalism' does add an additional layer of thematic unity to these essays, so I can't really complain too much.

One final word: Some folks might want to compare this to Norman Cantor's "Inventing the Middle Ages". However, there really is no comparison. Whereas Cantor's book consists of a series of short, polemical biographies of prominent 20th century medievalists, with no real ideas to advance on how the study of the Middle Ages is itself a product of modern concerns, this collection's articles point out, in a way that Cantor fails to, just what is "at stake" here. They show the degree to which Middle Ages-- and our ideas about it-- are substantially modern inventions (not fictions, necessarily, but inventions) that have come about largely as a result of modern concerns.

Highly recommended for all those interested in the theory and practice of medieval scholarship (especially literary scholarship and philology)... but be prepared to have naive ideas about the relation of past and present, and about the 'objectivity' of scholarship as an activity, shattered.