“Race” In Medieval Romance : “Race” In Medieval Romance By: Kamille Guinn
Let’s Set the Record Straight : Let’s Set the Record Straight Generally speaking, “race” was not a term of the Middle Ages and does NOT mean the same thing that it does today. RACE=RELIGION. Instead of your race being based on COLOR, it had to deal more with your FAITH. “RACE WAS ARTICULATED IN THE IDIOMS OF RELIGION MORE THAN IN THOSE OF NATURAL SCIENCE” (Fredrickson).
Your beliefs determined who you are
There should be a distinction between RACISM and RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE. Question: What is the difference between these 2 terms? Do you think religious intolerance is a better term to describe the treatment of “others” during this time?
The Conversion Factor : The Conversion Factor “All Christian believers made equal before God.”
The idea of second chances.
A pre-cursor to modern day racism
Christian=Good “Other”= Bad : Christian=Good “Other”= Bad Whiteness Blackness “Mario de Andrade has rightly exposed the evils of this Christian symbolism as being rooted in the very origins of the prejudice of color” (Bastide).
Are these ideas evident in the texts we’ve read? : Are these ideas evident in the texts we’ve read? In The King of Tars, it is more about the Sultan’s religion more so than his color.
Color comes into play once he converts:
His hide, that blac and lothely was,
Al white bicom, thurth Godes gras,
And clere withouten blame
This common theme is also seen in The Song of Roland and The Sultan of Babylon.
So, how can we describe “race” relations in Medieval Romance? : So, how can we describe “race” relations in Medieval Romance? Emergence of a binary between good/bad, right/wrong, acceptable/unacceptable. Just so happened that most Christians were white or of lighter skinned.
POWER. Seems to always be some type of battle. Both parties fight for their “races.” There is a fear of the “other” who is seen as evil.
Possibility of a reconciliation.
Interracial Intimacy is seen in The King of Tars, but since the Sultan becomes Christian at the end, their bond is no longer “interracial”, if we think of race in terms of religion. More about the color of your soul, than your skin.
Therefore, there was a possibility of peace that could be made between two “races”, if the “other” agreed to convert to Christianity
Appears that the Romantic texts were used as propaganda in an effort to prove that Christianity was the only “right” and “good” religion, by having the characters that were “others” give in to Christianity. It made the religion more desirable.
Wrapping it up : Wrapping it up Video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcTes96Ab-A
How does this rather current event compare/contrast with what we have read in The King of Tars and other Romantic texts that we have read during this unit?