Paper -a:
The television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer abounds with examples of popular culture medievalism. This paper examines one aspect of this medievalism: the use of medieval weaponry. The juxtaposition of low-tech medieval weapons like swords and crossbows with the hip 20th-century California youth culture of the series makes for arresting visuals and provides an element of the exotic and unexpected. Using manifest coding (which quantifies visual content) I will present the results of my quantitative content analysis of the frequency and types of medieval weapons used across the seven televised seasons. These results will inform further analysis of medievalism in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Paper -b:
Throughout the development of the Robin Hood legend, its main protagonist was subject to continuous change. Although he still is an instrument of justice and a ruler of an alternative realm, some other roles focusing especially on his family and social life have been attached to him in the 20th- and 21st-century retellings of the legend. The following paper will describe and analyse the development and realisation of the role of Robin Hood as the father figure in selected narrative and film retellings of the legend in comparison to the ballad tradition.
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