IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 224: Gendering the Empire: Arthurian Women in Medieval and Victorian Literature

Monday 7 July 2014, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:	Institute of Medieval & Early Modern Studies (IMEMS), Universities of Aberystwyth & Bangor
Organiser:	Rebecca Lyons, Department of English & Related Literature, University of York
Moderator/Chair:	Raluca Radulescu, School of English, Bangor University
Paper 224-a	A 'Foreign' Queen in King Uther's Court: 15th-Century Insular Xenophobia and Malory's Portrayal of Arthur's Mother (Language: English) Sheri Chriqui, Department of English, Royal Holloway, University of London Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Middle English, Women's Studies
Paper 224-b	Empire, Emancipation, and Tennyson's Depiction of Guinevere (Language: English) Adele Marie Cook, Department of Performing Arts & English, University of Bedfordshire Index terms: Gender Studies, Women's Studies
Paper 224-c	Morgan's Avalon: The 'Other' Empire of the Chanson d'Ogier (Language: English) Rebecca Lyons, Department of English & Related Literature, University of York Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - French or Occitan, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Abstract	Arthurian texts frequently display an authorial interest in nation and empire, presenting a semblance of social hegemony while having a nebulous core which reflects a shifting ideological discourse. While the masculine has been much discussed in relation to the Arthurian empire, the nuanced position of the queenly characters has been largely overlooked. Focussing on Morgan in the Chanson d'Ogier, Malory's Igrayne and Tennyson's Guinevere, this panel aims to redress this balance by interrogating the notion of woman as the 'other' against which Arthurian homosocial space defines itself, and by exploring the ways in which women are often used to embody threats to the empire.