Publication Date
6-2022
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Abstract
Given the current penchant for “medieval misappropriation” among white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and political pundits, medievalists are clearly justified in directing their critical attention toward debunking the overly popular neomedieval misrepresentations portrayed in so much serious modern Arthuriana. Yet, it is worth remembering that comedy also played an essential role in medieval Arthurian storytelling, and that neomedieval comic representations of King Arthur (and his silly English kuh-nigguts) remain worthy of critical attention as well, perhaps especially so during times of modern “darkness.” Two major strains of neomedieval Arthurian comedy remain perennially present in modern media: those following Mark Twain’s time-traveling Connecticut Yankee (wherein a cocky modern hero replaces an ineffective King Arthur as the new “boss”) and those echoing Monty Python’s satiric Holy Grail (wherein King Arthur is a self-important, dim-witted authority figure worthy of ridicule). These two comic strains find an unexpected hybrid representation in Sam Raimi’s horror-adventure-comedy, Army of Darkness, which presents fans with a cocky, dim-witted, and modern replacement for Arthur: Ashley J. Williams, the modern buffoon king we deserve . . . if not the one we want. As an escapist fantasy, a critique of modern hyper-masculine heroism, and a self-conscious distortion of medieval film tropes, Army of Darkness exemplifies how comic neomedieval Arthuriana can offer audiences solace during times of hardship, critique modern cultural concerns within a distant medieval construction, and remind viewers that the “real Middle Ages” was not a uniformly dour, shit-laden time of pestilence, violence, and ethnocentrism but—like our own time period—an age capable of self-reflection, criticism, and comedy.
DOI
10.4324/9781003255475-33
Page Range
461-476
Book Title
The Arthurian World (Part of The Routledge Worlds series)
Book Publisher
Routledge
Book Editor(s)
Victoria Coldham-Fussell, Miriam Edlich-Muth, and Renee Ward
Book Edition
First Edition
Book ISBN
9780367172701
Recommended Citation
Massey, Jeff Ph.D. and Ochtera, Tabitha MLIS, MBA, ""Hail to the King[s], Baby" Arthur vs Army of Darkness" (2022). Faculty Publications: English. 1.
https://digitalcommons.molloy.edu/eng_facpub/1
Document Version
Post Print
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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Included in
English Language and Literature Commons, Film and Media Studies Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Renaissance Studies Commons
Comments
The published version of this book chapter can be found on the Routledge website at https://www.routledge.com/The-Arthurian-World/Coldham-Fussell-Edlich-Muth-Ward/p/book/9780367172701