Introducing John Ganim's Theatricality, Medievalism, and Orientalism

ABSTRACT The following introduction provides a personal and critical backdrop for a cluster of five essays that celebrate the pedagogical and scholarly career of Dr. John Ganim following his recent retirement from the University of California, Riverside. By way of a brief review of Ganim's Chaucerian Theatricality and Medievalism and Orientalism, this introduction highlights the foundational arguments of Ganim's book‐length studies to provide prefatory context for the essays that follow from the cluster's contributing authors: Stephanie Trigg (University of Melbourne), Louise D'Arcens (Macquarie University), Seth Lerer (University of California, San Diego), Andrea Denny‐Brown (University of California, Riverside), and Shayne Legassie (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).