Anke Bernau

A Cultural History

Virgins

Bettina Bildhauer

Medieval film explores theoretical questions about the ideological, artistic, emotional and financial investments inhering in cinematic renditions of the medieval period. What does it mean to create and watch a ‘medieval film’? What is a medieval film and why are they successful? This is the first work that attempts to answer these questions, drawing, for instance, on film theory, postcolonial theory, cultural studies and the growing body of work on medievalism. Contributors investigate British, German, Italian, Australian, French, Swedish and American film, exploring topics such translation, temporality, film noir, framing and period film – and find the medieval lurking in unexpected corners. In addition it provides in-depth studies of individual films from different countries including The Birth of a Nation to Nosferatu, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Medieval film will be of interest to medievalists working in disciplines including literature, history, art history, to scholars working on film and in cultural studies. It will also be of interest to undergraduates, postgraduates and to an informed enthusiast in film or/and medieval culture.

Medieval film

Ruth Evans

Sarah Salih

The variety of subjects and disciplines represented here testify both to the elusiveness of virginity and to its lasting appeal and importance. Medieval Virginities shows how virginity's inherent ambiguity highlights the problems, contradictions and discontinuities lurking within medieval ideologies.

Medieval Virginities

In the Middle Ages it was believed that only a virgin could charm a unicorn out of hiding; but far from being a quaint, anachronistic concept, virginity remains a central value in Western culture. Typing "virgin" into Google results in more than one million hits and includes everything from the Anti-Nicene Fathers to advertisements for free teen virgins, displaying a range of current cultural preoccupations with virginity. This lively, wide-ranging examination of a phenomenon that has touched many aspects of our culture names different archetypes and facets of the concept of virginity. Examples include the Medical Virgin?exploring what exactly virginity is and how to reliably identify one; the Religious Virgin?from the Madonna to the American Christian Right's insistence on sexual abstinence before marriage; the Popular Virgin of Gothic fiction and modern day horror films; the Political Virgin?virginity's intimate connection with money and power; and the Monstrous Virgin, as embodiment of what is ultimately unknowable and of violence, excess, and death. Anke Bernau's witty and thought-provoking examination of virginity reveals its many bizarre manifestations throughout its long history as well as its growing contemporary potency.

Anke Bernau

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