Critical Whiteness and the Middle Ages: Past and Present
Description
In the essay ‘Solidarity and the medieval invention of race’ Seeta Chaganti reminds us that Medievalists have access to archival and historical records, and we can examine these archives carefully in order to understand ‘the role of institutional and wealth-based legitimation in the analysis of race and power’ to examine and challenge these devices as part of a system of white supremacy. This seminar aims to explore how does Critical whiteness and Premodern Critical Race Studies (PCRS) help to expand our knowledge of medieval history, literature, and culture to move away from centering white Western perspectives on (hi)story.
The seminar welcomes papers that explore questions such as:
How do medieval artifacts and texts help normalize and maintain power?
How do medieval disenfranchised communities argue for their inclusion into whiteness?
How do literary artifacts help maintain power?
How does medieval historiography use the production of ‘history’ to enhance white supremacist ideologies?
What other paths are open to medievalists to unearth the hidden, erased, and forgotten (hi)stories that reject a white-centric perspective on the Middle Ages?
Overall, the seminar welcomes papers that would enhance conversation and discussion on premodern critical whiteness and premodern critical race studies in myriads ways.