Representing Violence in the Medieval Period

Violence was represented in the middle ages in many ways. It could be reported briefly or in all its gory detail, with or without authorial comment, and with or without emotion. The author's attitude was sometimes expressed explicitly, sometimes implicitly, and sometimes ambiguously. The events themselves were at times described factually, while in other instances the narration is affective or even sentimental.The stylistic choices related to these variations are not random but come and go with differences in period, literary genre, and most importantly, the function of the narration. The course will examine these issues and the social and political implications of style in the representation of violence in different types of medieval sources: chronicles, hagiography, literature and iconographic sources. Reference will be made to relevant disciplines of the social sciences, such as sociology and social psychology.