Ellen Biþ selast – “Courage is the best thing”

Abstract

ABSTRACT Themes such as war, exile, diaspora, dislocation, marginalization, alienation and identity are among the foremost topics of critical investigation in contemporary literature, as are the strategies of resistance and survival the displaced employ to invent a space of their own, an alternative or new identity. Could medieval studies benefit from such present-day enquiries? Can we bridge the divide between contemporary exilic experience and the Anglo-Saxon world of Old English poetry? This article explores ways in which Homi Bhabha's “third space,” Edward Said's “exilic consciousness,” and Victor Turner's “liminal space” could illuminate and scaffold some medieval works for contemporary readers. Recent findings by modern disciplines such as anthropology, trauma psychology and forensic archaeology regarding the trauma of violence, displacement and exile could also add new insights. In view of such perspectives, the ar ticle examines in par ticular how displaced individuals such as the Wanderer persona act positively, creatively and courageously to create a new, more complex identity.