Arthurian Animals
Sponsoring Organization(s)
International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB)
Organizer Name
Melissa Ridley Elmes
Organizer Affiliation
Lindenwood Univ.
Presider Name
Melissa Ridley Elmes
Paper Title 1
Medieval Monster Cats: Cultural Attitudes and Animal Ethics in King Arthur's Battle with Chapalu or the Devil Cat of Lausanne
Presenter 1 Name
Ann Martinez
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Kent State Univ.-Stark
Paper Title 2
The Role of the Lion in the Middle English Ywain and Gawain
Presenter 2 Name
Christopher Jensen
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Florida State Univ.
Paper Title 3
"As Egir as Any Lyoun": Warrior Horses and Savage Knights in Lybeaus Desconus
Presenter 3 Name
Caitlin G. Watt
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Clemson Univ.
Paper Title 4
Horse Depictions in the Tristano Corsiniano
Presenter 4 Name
Gloria Allaire
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Univ. of Kentucky
Start Date
10-5-2019 3:30 PM
Session Location
Fetzer 1010
Description
Arthurian Animals - Session of papers
This proposed session provides a forum for scholars to consider the presence, narrative function, and critical significance of animals within the entirety of the Arthurian oeuvre, in order to bring Arthurian literary studies into conversation with animal studies generally, and animal studies in medieval literature and culture more explicitly. We intend this session to serve as the beginning of a continued scholarly discussion of the place of animals within the Arthurian realm. Questions that may be considered in this session: what animals are and are not present in these texts, and to what extent can that presence (or lack thereof) be explained by genre, geography, cultural transmission, adaptation, or by other means? Which animals interact with humans, and in what ways? Are there moments in which animals interact with one another, rather than with humans, and if so how does this shift attention from the human to the natural world? Are there unexpected or, perhaps, unintended narrative functions for animals in these texts? What medieval theories of the natural world might be profitably applied to the examination of animals in Arthurian texts? Is there an essential distinction between mythic and real animals in Arthurian texts? Is there any sort of a discernible ethics involved in human interactions with animals? Is there value in examining Arthurian tales through an animal studies critical lens? - Melissa Ridley Elmes
Arthurian Animals
Fetzer 1010
Arthurian Animals - Session of papers
This proposed session provides a forum for scholars to consider the presence, narrative function, and critical significance of animals within the entirety of the Arthurian oeuvre, in order to bring Arthurian literary studies into conversation with animal studies generally, and animal studies in medieval literature and culture more explicitly. We intend this session to serve as the beginning of a continued scholarly discussion of the place of animals within the Arthurian realm. Questions that may be considered in this session: what animals are and are not present in these texts, and to what extent can that presence (or lack thereof) be explained by genre, geography, cultural transmission, adaptation, or by other means? Which animals interact with humans, and in what ways? Are there moments in which animals interact with one another, rather than with humans, and if so how does this shift attention from the human to the natural world? Are there unexpected or, perhaps, unintended narrative functions for animals in these texts? What medieval theories of the natural world might be profitably applied to the examination of animals in Arthurian texts? Is there an essential distinction between mythic and real animals in Arthurian texts? Is there any sort of a discernible ethics involved in human interactions with animals? Is there value in examining Arthurian tales through an animal studies critical lens? - Melissa Ridley Elmes