Medievalism and Convergence Culture: Researching the Middle Ages for Fiction and Film

Abstract

In contemporary global culture, the flow of information and knowledge about the medieval period facilitates the work of film-makers and novelists. Contemporary medievalism can be read as a kind of convergence culture, bringing together academic, creative, and popular modes of thinking about medieval culture. Analysis of the research behind Bryce Courtenay's novel Sylvia, and Brian Helgeland's film A Knight's Tale, shows how contemporary medievalist fictions draw freely on a range of medieval sources while ultimately privileging their own artistic decisions and imperatives. The increasingly blurred distinction between 'medieval' and 'medievalist' is an example of contemporary convergence cult..