Ramos, Eduardo. "Sins of the Father: Academic Complicity in Racist Medievalisms." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/academic-complicity-in-racist-medievalisms. [Date accessed].

Academic complicity in racist medievalisms

Examining whiteness in medievalism and its connection to medieval studies.

Download the transcript
Eduardo Ramos
Arizona State University

Sins of the Father: Academic Complicity in Racist Medievalisms | Watch the full talk

Presented by Eduardo Ramos at Appropriations: A RaceB4Race Symposium in 2020

Eduardo Ramos examines whiteness in medievalism and its connection to medieval studies. He discusses how academia’s early nationalistic, and at times overtly imperial, interests suppressed evidence of diversity during the Middle Ages to construct a homogenous white Europe that informs popular medievalism like The Lord of the Rings (1954-55). Furthermore, by presenting texts like Beowulf (pre-11th century) and Vǫlsunga saga (13th century) as some sort of white heritage, early scholars and translators facilitated the appropriation of medieval Germanic symbols by white nationalist movements. Scholars in the field today have a responsibility to address these “sins” of their academic forefathers.

Further learning

Recommended

Activity

Erasure poetry exercise: Chaucer’s The House of Fame

A student exercise using erasure poetry to interrogate Chaucer's text. By redacting Chaucer's poem, students can reimagine their relationship to premodern literature.

Seeta Chaganti
Video

Premodern race as a critical canon

Heng offers insight on approaches to teaching the traditional, canonized literature of premodern Europe through the lens of premodern critical race studies.

Geraldine Heng
Video

Race and religious conversion

Bringing conversations about religious conversion into the classroom can help students see that religion was—and still is for some—more than just about what a person thinks and believes.

Dennis Britton

Selected annotated bibliography