A workshop with Prof. Suzanne Yeager (Fordham University),
introduced by Prof. Lisa Cooper (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Friday, March 25th from 12:00-1:00. (Via Zoom).
Modern scholarly thinking around adaptation shows that successor versions of a text must carry a “core value” of the original or ancestor source. This workshop explores the core values that premodern Christian authors identified as essential to their portrayals of Jewish identity. Fourteenth-century Middle English texts such as The Siege of Jerusalem and The Travels of Sir John Mandeville show a range of approaches to Judaism, ranging from reviling the religion to cherishing it. We’ll explore the contested space of these views and also consider how theories of succession are expressed in other contexts, such as medieval claims to land, sanctity, and resources.