Kalamazoo 2018 Update

The Alliance proposed the following roundtable for the 2018 International Congress on Medieval Studies. I have just learned today that our proposal was rejected.

Michael A.Torregrossa
Founder

Does the Matter of Britain (Still) Matter?:

Reflections on the State of Arthurian Studies Today (A Roundtable)

            The Arthurian legend is now over a millennium and a half old and continues to inspire new creative works each year. However, texts with widespread distribution and/or lasting impact are rare. Consequently, the Matter of Britain now seems very distant from our daily lives.

            The purpose of this session is to explore the reasons for this separation of the stories of Arthur from the popular consciousness. In conceiving this session, we are interested in exploring the answers to several questions. First, why has the Matter of Britain—once an important part of what J. R. R. Tolkien has termed “the cauldron of story”—now become something that is sampled by few artists with the means to promote their work to the larger segment of the global population that once devoured such stories with enthusiasm? Continuing with this idea, do these works, when noticed, not receive acclaim simply because of their creators’ failure to overcome what Norris J. Lacy has termed the “tyranny of tradition” and produce something that is both recognizable and innovative, or has the legend truly become a niche brand, a fascination to a few cognoscenti but something totally off the radar of most individuals? Similarly, when versions of the legend are produced by individuals with the means to create something that transcends the financial and distributive restrictions that hold back other works (and that might thus have the potential to shape how the current generation perceives the Arthurian story), why do they so often not succeed? Have these creators also simply failed to negotiate the tyranny of tradition, or are audiences at large just not interested in Arthur and all that he represents anymore? Lastly, if the legend no longer appeals, what is the future of Arthurian Studies (and Arthurian scholars) in the remainder of the twenty-first century? Should we entrench ourselves and hope for the best, or can we fight for our field and the glory that was Camelot?

The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain is dedicated to study and debate of the representations of the Arthurian legends in all their forms as produced from the Middle Ages through tomorrow. In various incarnations, our organization has been in existence since 2000.

MAPACA Session 2017 CFP

Call for Papers
New Visits to Camelot: Reflecting on the Contemporary Matter of Britain on Screen (Roundtable)
Proposals no later than 29 June 2017

Session sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture
For inclusion under the  Medieval & Renaissance Area at the 28th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 8-11 November 2017

Following the success of previous sessions at past meetings of the Popular Culture Association, past and present International Congresses on Medieval Studies, and last year’s meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association, the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture seeks proposals for a sponsored roundtable session on the topic of New Visits to Camelot: Reflecting on the Contemporary Matter of Britain on Screen for inclusion under the Medieval & Renaissance Area at the 28th Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association to be held at the Pennsylvania Sonesta Philadelphia Downtown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 8-11 November 2017.

SESSION DESCRIPTION
Arthurian enthusiasts are great catalogers of the tradition, and scholars of the legend on screen have been especially devoted to their task, as attested by the filmographic work of Kevin J. Harty, Bert Olton, Michael N. Salda, and Michael A. Torregrossa and the wider-ranging catalogs by the bibliographing teams of Ann F. Howey and Stephen R. Reimer and of Daniel P. Nastali and Philip C. Boardman. However, the energies of these individuals remains largely limited to the last century, and, in the past seventeen years, the Matter of Britain has grown enormously on screen. The corpus has nearly doubled as the mediums of film, television, electronic games, and the Internet have presented fresh adventures of the familiar cast of characters from Camelot as well as granted Arthurian-themed escapades to new figures. Despite their popularity, this new Matter of Britain on Screen remains underexplored. Consequently, the purpose of this session is to investigate these recent representations of the legend and address their attempts at navigating what Norris J. Lacy has termed “the tyranny of tradition,” that “particular kind of filmic ‘anxiety of influence,’ whereby filmmakers must deal with two opposing impulses: on the one hand, the natural desire to innovate; on the other, the need to tell a story that corresponds at least in major respects to the audience’s understanding of orthodox Arthurian fact” (76). Succeed or fail in their efforts, these new Arthurian texts remain important artifacts in assessing the continued vitality of the millennium-and-half-old myth of Arthur and his world.
An ever-expanding list of potential works can be found at our website: https://MatterofBritainonScreen.blogspot.com/.

Please send abstracts of approximately 300 words, any audio-visual requests, and a brief biography narrative related to your scholarly career to the organizer, Michael A. Torregrossa, at MedievalStudiesonScreen@gmail.com, using “New Visits to Camelot” as your subject line.

All presenters must be or become members of Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association in order to participate. Upon acceptance of proposals, presenters must register with MAPACA and submit their information into their online system no later than 30 June 2017. Complete details will follow from the organizer.

In Memory of Don Rickles

Comedian Don Rickles passed away recently. Arthurian enthusiasts might remember his portrayal of Cornwall, one half of a two-headed dragon, in the animated film Quest for Camelot (1998). The character is introduced (along with his other half, Devon) in the following musical number.

Kalamazoo 2018 Session

The Alliance is interested in sponsoring a round table on the upcoming King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword film (the first of a sex-film series, we are told) for next Kalamazoo (i.e. 2018).

Please contact us at kingarthurforever2000@gmail.com should you be interested in participating.

New article on Ritchie's King Arthur

Sci Fi magazine, a publication of the Syfy channel, has released a 3-page piece on the upcoming King Arthur film in its June 2017 issue. The number is available at newsstands and bookstores; you can also receive the magazine by subscription. 

Synopsis for "Camelot/3000"

The Futon Critic website has posted the following plot synopsis for this week's upcoming episode of Legends of Tomorrow:

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

DC'S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW

"Camelot/3000" - (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET) (TV-14, LV) (HDTV)

ALL FOR ONE - The Legends continue their quest to hunt down the Spear of Destiny before the pieces fall into the hands of the Legion of Doom. The Legends discover that pieces of the Spear are each being guarded in different time periods by members of the JSA. Their first stop is the future where they find Dr. Mid-Nite (guest star Kwesi Ameyaw) which eventually leads them to the past and King Arthur's Camelot, where Stargirl (guest star Sarah Grey) is protecting her piece of the Spear. In order to protect the Spear shard from the now-evil Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), the Legends must join forces with the Knights of the Round Table. Caity Lotz, Franz Drameh, Victor Garber, Brandon Routh, Dominic Purcell, Nick Zano and Maisie Richardson-Sellers also star. Antonio Negret directed the episode written by Anderson MacKenzie (#212). Original airdate 2/21/2017.

Transformers: The Last Knight Super Bowl Extended Teaser

Here's the most recent trailer on Transformers: The Last Knight. Nothing specifically Arthurian or medieval here.

Transformers: The Last Knight Teaser

I found the first teaser for Transformers: The Last Knight. This was released last December. The "Arthurian" section appears near the beginning.

More on Transformers: The Last Knight

Another video from Nerdist News on Transformers: The Last Knight, but nothing specific on the Arthurian link.

Transformers: The Last Knight Speculation

I need to track down the trailer to Transformers: The Last Knight, but for now the following overview from Nerdist.com offers some possible plot points, including speculation about Merlin, Excalibur, and Arthur.

Camelot/3000 Trailer

CW released a trailer last week for the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow episode "Camelot/3000". The episode airs next Tuesday, 2/21.


The ComicBookMovie.com website offers set of stills from the episode and plot details at https://www.comicbookmovie.com/tv/dc/legends_of_tomorrow/the-legends-join-the-round-table-in-stills-from-legends-a148810.

Legends of Tomorrow Update

It was announced late last year that an upcoming episode of the CW series Legends of Tomorrow would be titled "Camelot/3000." Immediate speculation online (see for example https://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/12/01/legends-tomorrow-bringing-camelot-3000/)  suggested a connection to the comic book series Camelot 3000 (details on the series at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelot_3000), but series co-creator/executive producer Marc Guggenheim has finally pronounced on the episode's content in a recent interview for IGN (http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/01/31/legends-of-tomorrow-captain-cold-is-still-joining-the-legion-of-doom), where he explains:

Yeah, that's a great episode. Actually Phil [Klemmer] and I were just on the editing room for that yesterday. I think the show does a great job with the production value and creating different time periods and Camelot sets a new bar. I will say, just managing expectations, we are not doing our adaptation of Camelot 3000 by Mike W. Barr. That slash in the title, Camelot/3000 is very much there for a reason. I'll just say it takes place in two time periods - the year 3000, and it takes place in Camelot. I was like, if we have an episode where we happen to be in Camelot and we happen to be in the year 3000 and we don't call it some variation of Camelot 3000, we're doing something wrong. That's sort of all I'll say.

Further details to follow as they become available. The episode is set to air on 21 February 2017.

Medieval in American Popular Culture sessions

Our affiliate, Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture is sponsoring a session on "The Medieval in American Popular Culture: Reflections in Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of Prince Valiant." Complete details can be found at our main site at http://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/2017/01/call-for-papers-medieval-in-american.html.

Kalamazoo 2017 News

Please check out our sibling blog, Medieval Studies on Screen, for details on our call for papers for next year's International Congress on Medieval Studies. The session is devoted to animated representations of the medieval and is offered in memory of the late Michael N. Salda, author of Arthurian Animation: A Study of Cartoon Camelots on Film and Television.

Details at http://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/2016/06/cfp-animating-medieval-proposals-by.html.

Brennan on BBC's Merlin

From the latest number of Arthuriana:

Brennan, Joseph. “ ‘You Could Shame the Great Arthur Himself’: A Queer Reading of Lancelot from BBC’s Merlin with Respect to the Character in Malory, White, and Bradley.” Arthuriana 25.2 (Summer 2015): 20-43.

Accessible at Project MUSE at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/arthuriana/v025/25.2.brennan.html.

The Holy Grail on Film Updated

Here is the full information about Kevin Harty's new collection:

The Holy Grail on Film: Essays on the Cinematic Quest
Edited by Kevin J. Harty

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-7785-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-2053-4
17 photos, notes, bibliographies, index
256pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2015

Buy Now! Price: $45.00
Available for immediate shipment

About the Book
This collection of new essays is the first to study film depictions of the quest for the Holy Grail—the holy Christian relic of legend supposedly used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Scholars from a range of disciplines discuss American, Australian and European films that offer fresh perspectives on this enduring myth of the Arthurian world and Western culture, including The Silver Chalice (1954), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Excalibur (1981), The Road Warrior (1981), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Fisher King (1991), The Da Vinci Code (2006), The Waterboy (1998), and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (2009).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Holy Grail, Silent Grail (Kevin J. Harty) 7
The Silver Chalice: The Once and Future Grail (K. S. Whetter) 21
Lancelot du lac: Robert Bresson’s Arthurian Realism (Joan Tasker Grimbert) 37
Perceval of the ­Avant-Garde: Rohmer, Blank and von Trier (Alan Baragona) 50
Hans-Jurgen Syberberg’s Parsifal: Remystifying Kundry (Jon Sherman) 67
"Lovely Filth": Monty Python and the Matter of the Holy Grail (Christine M. Neufeld) 81
John Boorman’s Excalibur and the Irrigating Light of the Grail (Raeleen ­Chai-Elsholz with ­Jean-Marc Elsholz) 98
The Da Vinci Code and the Myth of History (Susan Aronstein) 112
Percival in Cooperstown: Arthurian Legend, Baseball Mythology and the Mediated Quest in Barry Levinson’s The Natural (James Jesson) 128
Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King (Cory James Rushton) 143
A Son, His Father, Some Nazis and the Grail: Lucas and Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Joseph M. Sullivan) 158
A Grail or a Mirage? Searching the Wasteland of The Road Warrior (Paul B. Sturtevant) 173
The Grail as Symbolic Quest in Tarkovsky’s Stalker (Andrew B. R. Elliott) 187
The Waterboy and Swamp Chivalry: A Grail Knight for American Teens (Laurie A. Finke and Martin B. Shichtman) 202
Holy Grail, Schlocky Grail (David W. Marshall) 215
About the Contributors 233
Index 237


About the Editor
Kevin J. Harty, a professor and chair of English, and coordinator of the Undergraduate General Education Core, at La Salle University in Philadelphia and associate editor of Arthuriana, the official journal of the North American Branch of the International Arthurian Society (of which he is the former president), has written 14 books.

TV Scholarship in Arthuriana

The latest number of Arthuriana is devoted to recent Arthurian-themed television. Contents are available (to subscribers only) at the journal's website (http://arthuriana.org/access/25-1Contents.html) and on Project MUSE (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/arthuriana/toc/art.25.1.html).

Details as follows:

King Arthur in the Twenty-First Century: Kaamelot, BBC’s Merlin, and Starz’s Camelot
Tara Foster & Jon Sherman 3

Kaamelot’s Global Fifth Century
Tara Foster 5

Kaamelot’s Paradox: Lancelot between Subjugation and Individuation
Cédric Briand 22

From ‘Unthinking Stereotype’ to Fearless Antagonist: The Evolution of Morgan le Fay on Television
Cindy Mediavilla 44

Casting, Plotting, and Enchanting: Arthurian Women in Starz’s Camelot and the BBC’s Merlin
Jennifer C. Edwards 57
 
Source, Authority, and Audience in the BBC’s Merlin
Jon Sherman 82
 
Pendragons at the Chopping Block: Elements of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the BBC’s Merlin
Erin Chandler 101

Multiculturalism, Diversity, and Religious Tolerance in Modern Britain and the BBC’s Merlin
David C. Tollerton 113

Re-Posted: The Middle Ages on Television

McFarland is publishing a new book on medieval-themed television in 2015. Full details have posted on the Medieval Studies on Screen blog (http://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/2014/12/coming-soon-middle-ages-on-television.html), but it is work noting here that the book will also cover Arthurian material, including Merlin, Camelot, and Mists of Avalon.

Coming Soon: The Holy Grail on Film

It's been a while since I last posted, but there are some exciting new developments in the field. The first is an interesting new collection edited by Kevin J. Harty, the most active proponent of Arthurian film/television studies. The book is due out this spring just in time for Kalamazoo. Details as follows:

The Holy Grail on Film: Essays on the Cinematic Quest

Edited by Kevin J. Harty 

Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-7785-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-4766-2053-4

ca. 15 photos, notes, bibliography, index

softcover (7 x 10) 2015

Price: $45.00

Not Yet Published, Available Spring/Summer 2015

About the Book

This collection of new essays is the first to study film depictions of the quest for the Holy Grail—the Christian holy relic of legend supposedly used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Scholars and critics from a range of disciplines discuss American and European films that offer fresh perspectives on this enduring myth of the Arthurian world and Western culture, including The Silver Chalice (1954), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Excalibur (1981), The Road Warrior (1981), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), The Fisher King (1991), The Da Vinci Code (2006), The Waterboy (1998), and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead (2009).

Complete contents will be posted separately once they are made available. 

About the Editor

Kevin J. Harty is professor and chair of English, and Coordinator of the Undergraduate General Education Core, at La Salle University in Philadelphia and associate editor of Arthuriana, the official journal of the North American Branch of the International Arthurian Society, of which he is the former president. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, seven of which are on film and medieval studies.  

Tristana Returns to Video

 Luis Buñuel's 1970 film Tristana, a modern-day recasting of the Tristan story, has recently been released to home and on-demand video as part of the Cohen Film Collection (details, trailer, and images at http://www.cohenfilmcollection.net/Details.aspx?id=00d78a14-db09-e311-9060-d4ae527c3b65) with a number of features, as noted on the Amazon.com product pages (DVD; Blu-Ray), unique to the physical media versions.

Synopsis (from Cohen Film Collection)

Tristana stars Catherine Deneuve as an orphaned young woman who becomes the ward of a nobleman (Fernando Rey) who seduces her. She then leaves him for an artist (Franco Nero), but returns to her aging benefactor and calculatingly hastens his demise.

Filmed in Toledo, Spain, it was released in 1970 after protracted skirmishes with censors in Generalissimo Franco’s government.

Restored by Cohen Film Collection in conjunction with Filmoteca Española, Madrid to its original glory not seen since its original release in 1970.




DVD/Blu-Ray Extras: (from Amazon)

- Feature Length audio commentary with Catherine Deneuve and critic Kent Jones
- 30 minute featurette with Bunuel scholar Peter William Evans
- Alternate ending
- Catherine Deneuve's diary entries written during production
- New essay by Cineaste editor Richard Porton
- Chapter excerpt from scholar Raymond Durgnat from his now out of print book on Bunuel
- English and Spanish dub tracks
- New restoration trailer