medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thank you to all who wrote on this topic. Your comments have been very helpful. I have to confess that I was the one who put the book in that impressionable teenager's hands, as I thought such a bestseller dealing somehow with medieval times must be an intriguing read. Only afterwards did I read it myself and found out what it was. For those who have not read it, in my opinion the prose is lame... The book is sexist, contrary to what it apparently purports to be. And its representation of academic culture is naive bordering with the comical. But after having supplied such a silly book to an unsuspecting child, at least I can remedy the effect by enlarging his horizons with additional books that deals with it.
Anyway, I think it is good, even necessary for historians and other specialists to comment on such popular bestsellers in venues accessible to the same audience that has read them in the first place. It is true that they are "just fiction", however, they are the exact places where popular stereotypes and misconceptions take shape. The Da Vinci Code is especially misleading in its style and its constant efforts to make the reader believe it is based on actual research. Not only will we eventually get to teach those same teenagers who have read this and other books when they come to us as students, but I think it is no one but medievalists who should provide further knowledge on popular hypes, as public service. After someone has read the book and wants to read more on the subject, he or she should be able to find books based on scholarly research, even if without any definite opinion on difficult topics. Or else, isn't it nice to have medievalists descending to the public rea!
lm, like Umbero Eco? (It would be great to think that we can now expect a surge of interest in medieval studies as an academic discipline!)
Elena
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