Rewriting Holiness: Reconfiguring Vitae, Resignifying Cults ed. by Madeleine Gray

Abstract

Reviewsadaptations of medieval history, graphic novel depictions of the Hundred Years' War, the afterlives of Elizabeth Barton, ghosts of the Civil War past, religious conflict in the film Elizabeth and, of course, Game of Thrones. The highlight of this section, however, is Marina Gerzić's reading of Benedict Cumberbatch's performance as Richard III in The Hollow Crown, a recent BBC adaptation of Shakespeare's history plays. Gerzić traces the way that Cumberbatch's previous roles, and star image, fed into the interpretation of his performance, particularly by his enthusiastic fans (known as the 'Cumberbitches'). Gerzić's use of fan studies to inform her reading of how Richard III is represented in the production provides a useful framework for further research in the field, especially given the immense popularity of certain medieval and early modern subjects in internet subcultures. Ben Redder's contribution on medievalist video games is also particularly interesting, given the immense popularity of the form and the ability of video games to present a highly stylized, often immensely violent, version of the medieval past.From Medievalism and Early-Modernism is a useful, engaging contribution to the growing body of scholarship interested in the ways in which the medieval and early modern periods have been rethought, adapted, and reinterpreted across centuries. In its innovative and fresh approach to the material, including insights gleaned from the disciplines of film and television studies, video game studies, and fan studies, it is likely to be of significant interest to scholars working on the complex, often surprising, afterlife of the medieval and early modern periods.