French Literature Reviews - 2026
Z. Stahuljak, Médiéval contemporain. Pour une littérature connectée
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Zrinka Stahuljak
Médiéval contemporain. Pour une littérature connectée
Macula, coll. Anamnèses. Médiéval/Contemporain
96 p. — 14 € — ISBN 978-2-86589-118-4
In this essay, medievalist Zrinka Stahuljak presents a Middle Ages rich in lessons for our own society. By examining both the medieval and neoliberal eras, she uncovers our relationship with words and literature, as well as their history, shedding light on issues related to cultural policy, heritage preservation, and funding. Throughout these pages, the urgent need to continue teaching medieval literature and history clearly emerges.
Zrinka Stahuljak teaches medieval literature and civilization at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her published works in France include L’Archéologie pornographique. Médecine, Moyen Âge et histoire de France (PUR, 2018) and Les Fixeurs au Moyen Âge. Histoire et littérature connectées (Le Seuil, 2021); in the United States, she has published Bloodless Genealogies of the French Middle Ages (2005) and Medieval Fixers: Translation Across the Mediterranean, 1250-1530 (forthcoming).
The study of the Middle Ages has long occupied a central place in the humanities, serving as a mirror for modern cultural and political structures. The field of medieval studies frequently engages with the history of the book, the evolution of language, and the preservation of cultural heritage. This work situates the medieval period within a broader discourse on the societal role of literature and the academic humanities in the twenty-first century, examining the relationship between words, literature, and their history.
Zrinka Stahuljak, a professor of medieval literature and civilization at UCLA, examines the Middle Ages in relation to the neoliberal era, focusing on issues of cultural policy, heritage preservation, and funding. The text addresses the transmission of medieval literature and history and the need for their continued teaching. Readers interested in the intersection of medieval studies and contemporary institutional challenges may find this discussion relevant as it reflects on the role of these disciplines within modern educational systems.