Matthew X. Vernon – författare

Revising the histories of medievalism—the processes by which the Middle Ages are reimagined in later moments to varied political, social, and cultural ends—is critical to the field’s turn away from its oppressive roots and towards a richer conception of the past. Grounded in intersectional feminist interpretive frameworks, Women’s Restorative Medievalisms examines how contemporary women writers engage the premodern past to animate intertwined histories of oppression and resistance in service of visionary futures. These medievalisms create temporal dialogue between the past and the present to restore the voices of women who have been overlooked in medieval studies and medievalism studies. The book’s contemporary focus will appeal both to students and medieval studies scholars who seek to understand the field’s present value amid the backlash of patriarchal, white supremacist power.

The Black Middle Ages examines the influence of medieval studies on African-American thought. Vernon focuses on nineteenth century uses of medieval texts to structure racial identity, but also considers the flexibility of medieval narratives more broadly in the medieval period, twentieth and twenty-first centuries.