MEDIEVAL WAVE IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE: NAOMI MITCHISON’S TO THE CHAPEL PERILOUS

In recent years nostalgia for medieval period has appeared in the form of the fantasy genre which generally includes magical and supernatural elements as in the works of the Middle Ages. The revival of the medieval romances and poems in popular culture in the 20th century was named neomedievalism by the critic Umberto Eco. Neomedieval works retell the notable medieval stories or develop a new plot in the light of medieval narratives, and at times they consist of chivalry and/or medieval setting like castles. All these features coincide with the essential characteristics of fantasy. In contemporary literature, it is obvious that both the movement neomedievalism and the fantasy genre offer a chance to authors to criticise the deficiencies and wrongdoing of their own periods. The Scottish author Naomi Mitchison, keeping the spirit of medievalism alive in her works, in To the Chapel Perilous (1955) rewrites a well-known Arthurian legend, the quest for the Holy Grail, from her own point of view adding some anachronistic details such as newspaper industry and reporters who are following all the steps of the knights in search of the Grail. The intertwinement of modern elements with a medieval legend is Mitchison’s way of criticism of contemporary journalism, and by emphasising the dominant Medieval Church institute in her work, she points out the existence of authoritative figures in every period. The connection between the Middle Ages and contemporary period dissociates Mitchison’s novel, which is regarded as a parody, from the other neomedieval works which often protect the chivalric spirit by glorifying the medieval values. Within this frame, this paper will discuss the neomedieval elements in the fantastic novel To the Chapel Perilous as means to criticism of Mitchison’s own period and explore the place of the medievalism in contemporary literature.