Lessons of Marginality

The Tiresias vision of medieval studies provides double identity of its own oldest on the one hand and newest on the other. It is the largest enterprise to observe marginalized medieval studies.

Lee Patterson commenting on medieval studies in his criticism “On the Margin” says that a medieval study is a transformed terrain. It is the both immediate and ultimate research of historicism and this marginality regain its autonomous and equal importance if the boundary is redrawn. It means the relationship between the center and margin with medieval studies in old boundary show the isolation of marginality.  Recent re-thinking on such marginality concerns the constantly renegotiated relations of popular and learned, local and official culture, written and oral cultural modes. However, this comparison is not done yet. The importance of culture in literary history is not only possible but also necessary. Therefore it is now urgently necessary that the marginal terrain of Medieval Studies must be restored for the possibility of literary history by transforming the cultural one.  This transformation is not in the traditional organic analogies but multiple forms of literary and textuality.  The underlying pattern of medieval society and modern society bears some sorts of political and material base structure. That’s why medieval studies is transformed into modern studies which Bacon says “a serving science.”

Now medieval studies apply multidimensional approach. They combined modern theories with the middle age texts. So, they provided us the idea how the old texts can be more interesting. Thus the Medieval Studies tries to read from a completely new point.