King Arthur in Popular Culture ed. by Elizabeth S. Sklar and Donald L. Hoffman (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS107 ' . . .The one who hears, in addition to learning these things, also comprehends and is taught in it the emotions ofthe soul, and, consequently, on the basis ofthat which affects him and by which he is constrained, he also is enabled by this book to possess the imagederivingfromthewords....Andtheonewhohearsisdeeplymoved,asthough he himselfwere speaking, and is affected by the words of the songs, as ifthey were his own songs__ And the things spoken are such that he lifts them up to God as himselfacting and speakingthem from himself. . ..Thesewordsbecome like a mirror to the person singing them.' (Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus, trans. Robert Gregg.) ALFRED K. SIEWERS Bucknell University Elizabeth s. sklar and donald L. hoffman, eds., KingArthur in PopuUr Culture. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Company, 2002. Pp. 266. (paperback only) isbn: o— 7864-1257-7. $32. The ubiquity of the Arthurian legend in modern popular culture is the subject of the eighteen essays here collected by Elizabeth S. Sldar and Donald L. Hoffman. The collection begins with a brief foreword by Alan Lupack acknowledging the role ofSally Slocum in fostering the serious study ofArthurian popular culture and with a short preface by Elizabeth S. Sklar. Seventeen of the essays appear here for the first time; the eighteenth (a subsequent essay by Sklar) is published in revised form; many were originally papers delivered at scholarly conferences in recent years. Sklar's essay, 'Marketing Arthur: The Commodification of Arthurian Legend,' opens the collection by distinguishing between 'promotional Arthuriana and Arthurian products' (10). Based largely on a survey of both in the greater Detroit metropolitan area, Sklar convincingly argues that 'the marketplace contributes more vitally to the survival and perpetuation of the Arthurian legend than does the academy, for it reaches an infinitely larger and generally more complicitous audience' (21). In 'Defending the Domestic: Arthurian Tropes and the American Dream,' Zia Isola discusses King Arthur Flour and Round Table Pizza, products which add the role of 'defender of all domestic boundaries' (34) to Arthur's long list of titles. In 'Tintagel: The Best ofEnglishTwinkie,' James Noble looks at the commercialization ofTintagel and the accompanying sanitizing ofthe Arthurian myth in civic attempts to capitalize on the legendary birthplace of the once and future king as a tourist mecca. Essays by Donald L. Hoffman and BarbaraTcpa Lupack then address what might arguably be considered less popular (and more high cultural) manifestations ofthe Arthurian legend. In 'Arthur, Popular Culture, and World War II,' Hoffman looks at the ways World War II fiction by Dennis Lee Anderson, Donald Bartheleme, John Erskine, and T. H. White embraces the Arthurian legend. In 'King Arthur and Vietnam,' Lupack traces the use ofArthurian motifs in Vietnam era fiction by W. R. Duncan, Owl Goingback, Megan Lindholm, Bobbie Ann Mason, Katherine Paterson, and S. P. Somtow. In what is the most insightful and thought-provoking essay in this collection, Lupack finds that 'the Arthurian legends continue to be 1?8ARTHURIANA seen as a vital story that has relevance for commenting on historical events like the Vietnam War and its effects' (72). On a lighter note in 'The Documentary Arthur: Reflections ofa Talking Head,' Norris J. Lacy comments on the flourishing business of Arthurian documentaries and recounts his own experiences as on- and off-screen talent concluding with perhaps more than a note ofresignarion that, since 'hope springs eternal,' he hopes a documentary 'will eventually get it right' (85). In 'Was That in the Vulgate? Arthurian Legend in TV Film and Series Episodes,' Bert Olton surveys Arthurian television sightings from 1961 to 1999. An especially helpful appendix provides production details on more than three dozen such sightings including some that may take readers by surprise. Arthurian materials can been found in episodes of television shows ranging from Naked City to Bonanza to Fantasy Islandto Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In 'Knights in Space: The Arthur of Babylon $ and Dr. Who,' Kristina Hildebrand shows that Arthur 'has gained a foothold in space, and among all the Avalons where Arthur may sleep, we must now include those beyond the stars' (109). Michael N. Salda surveys 'Arthurian Animation at Century's End' and finds quantity but not quality in recent animated Arthurian offerings. Salda rightly laments that...