The Importance of Representation in Medieval Studies
Faculty Sponsor(s)
Jaime Friedman
Location
Vivian A. Bull Music Center: Delkin Recital Hall
Subject Area
English: Literature
Description
Novice students of Chaucer’s Middle English can more readily understand the texts when audio supplements modeling pronunciation and cadence are available as study tools. However, these supplemental audio materials, and particularly those read in women’s voices, can be difficult to locate. The lack of women’s voices is a reality that has been considered previously in relation to male-dominated scholarship and critical/theoretical gatekeeping in medieval studies, and many have worked to address this problem in the last 20-30 years. Highlighting a problem that is both pedagogical and disciplinary, this video project builds on that previous work to foreground a diverse collection of readers of Middle English texts, especially women and medievalists of color, and provides a platform for a diverse range of people to acoustically interpret the “father” of this literature.
Recommended Citation
Glenn, Madeleine and Friedman, Jamie, "The Importance of Representation in Medieval Studies" (2018). Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement. Event. Submission 78.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/symposium/2018/all/78
The Importance of Representation in Medieval Studies
Vivian A. Bull Music Center: Delkin Recital Hall
Novice students of Chaucer’s Middle English can more readily understand the texts when audio supplements modeling pronunciation and cadence are available as study tools. However, these supplemental audio materials, and particularly those read in women’s voices, can be difficult to locate. The lack of women’s voices is a reality that has been considered previously in relation to male-dominated scholarship and critical/theoretical gatekeeping in medieval studies, and many have worked to address this problem in the last 20-30 years. Highlighting a problem that is both pedagogical and disciplinary, this video project builds on that previous work to foreground a diverse collection of readers of Middle English texts, especially women and medievalists of color, and provides a platform for a diverse range of people to acoustically interpret the “father” of this literature.
