As a young scholar delving into Medieval English literature and the history of race, Cord J. Whitaker often faced skepticism. “You’re a medievalist?” was a frequent question, underscoring the perceived incongruity between his identity as a Black American man and his research interests, which incorporated critical race theory. Whitaker’s experiences reflect broader challenges within medieval studies, a field that has traditionally overlooked the intersections of race and medieval history.
In the April 2024 issue of Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, Whitaker, along with co-editors Nahir I. Otaño Gracia and François-Xavier Fauvelle, seeks to address these challenges head-on. This special issue, titled “Race, Race-Thinking, and Identity in the Global Middle Ages,” aims to legitimize and advance premodern critical race studies (PCRS) while elevating the voices of early career scholars. It represents a significant milestone for medieval studies, offering a timely counter to recent critiques of critical race theory in the United States and the misuse of medieval history by White supremacists.
The articles in the April 2024 issue of Speculum cover a wide variety of topics from the Global Middle Age, with some offering resonances between medieval history and present-day disputes. They include:
On the Margins of “Alle”: Feminist Theologies of Enclosure in Julian of Norwich and Harriet Jacobs, by Thai-Catherine Matthews
Lucifer’s Shadow: Racial Divides in the Yiddish Bovo d’Antona, by Annegret Oehme
Queer Indigenous Relationality in Finnboga saga ramma, by Basil Arnould Price
Rethinking “Domestic Enemies”: Slavery and Race Formation in Late Medieval Florence, by Angela Zhang
Imagined Invasions: Muslim Vikings in Laȝamon’s Brut and Middle English Romances, by Eduardo Ramos
Food, Contamination, and Race-Thinking: Culinary Encounters in Late Medieval Missionary Accounts of Asia, by Soojung Choe
Chess and Race in the Global Middle Ages, by Krisztina Ilko
For Katherine Jansen, the current editor of Speculum, having this special issue was a priority since she took up the position in 2019. “It was immediately clear to me from surveying the landscape of medieval studies at that time that premodern critical race studies (PCRS) was the historical “turn” that was generating the most excitement and innovative work in the discipline, particularly among early career scholars,” she explains. “I, for one, had been trained to think of the Middle Ages as a period that had somehow preceded race, racism, and race-thinking, so I was eager to see how a new generation was applying the lessons of critical race theory to reframe the medieval period through this lens.
“Therefore, in the spirit of Luke Wenger, the editor of Speculum who had commissioned themed issues on The New Philology (1990) and Studying Medieval Women (1993)—both controversial in their day—and with the enthusiastic consent of the Editorial Board of the journal, we commissioned this issue of Race, Race-thinking, and Identity in the Global Middle Ages. And we are very proud to welcome this chorus of new voices into the pages of Speculum.”
It’s out! Race, Race-Thinking, and Global Middle Ages. Speculum | Vol 99, No 2. Speculum’s FIRST EVER issue on #race, and—take it from me—the articles are pure 🔥 @MedievalAcademy @Wellesley https://t.co/1ooxvT48gD
You can access the special issue through the University of Chicago Press website. The introduction by Cord J. Whitaker, Nahir I. Otaño Gracia, and François-Xavier Fauvelle is free to read.
As a young scholar delving into Medieval English literature and the history of race, Cord J. Whitaker often faced skepticism. “You’re a medievalist?” was a frequent question, underscoring the perceived incongruity between his identity as a Black American man and his research interests, which incorporated critical race theory. Whitaker’s experiences reflect broader challenges within medieval studies, a field that has traditionally overlooked the intersections of race and medieval history.
In the April 2024 issue of Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies, Whitaker, along with co-editors Nahir I. Otaño Gracia and François-Xavier Fauvelle, seeks to address these challenges head-on. This special issue, titled “Race, Race-Thinking, and Identity in the Global Middle Ages,” aims to legitimize and advance premodern critical race studies (PCRS) while elevating the voices of early career scholars. It represents a significant milestone for medieval studies, offering a timely counter to recent critiques of critical race theory in the United States and the misuse of medieval history by White supremacists.
The articles in the April 2024 issue of Speculum cover a wide variety of topics from the Global Middle Age, with some offering resonances between medieval history and present-day disputes. They include:
For Katherine Jansen, the current editor of Speculum, having this special issue was a priority since she took up the position in 2019. “It was immediately clear to me from surveying the landscape of medieval studies at that time that premodern critical race studies (PCRS) was the historical “turn” that was generating the most excitement and innovative work in the discipline, particularly among early career scholars,” she explains. “I, for one, had been trained to think of the Middle Ages as a period that had somehow preceded race, racism, and race-thinking, so I was eager to see how a new generation was applying the lessons of critical race theory to reframe the medieval period through this lens.
“Therefore, in the spirit of Luke Wenger, the editor of Speculum who had commissioned themed issues on The New Philology (1990) and Studying Medieval Women (1993)—both controversial in their day—and with the enthusiastic consent of the Editorial Board of the journal, we commissioned this issue of Race, Race-thinking, and Identity in the Global Middle Ages. And we are very proud to welcome this chorus of new voices into the pages of Speculum.”
You can access the special issue through the University of Chicago Press website. The introduction by Cord J. Whitaker, Nahir I. Otaño Gracia, and François-Xavier Fauvelle is free to read.
Whitaker, Otaño Gracia, and Fauvelle also appeared on The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast to further discuss the issue.
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