Summary
Irena Špadijer: The Living Middle Ages: from manuscript books to moving pictures
In the book The Living Middle Ages, Irena Špadijer is primarily concerned with defining the chronological boundaries of the Serbian Middle Ages in relation to the Byzantine-Orthodox and wider European context, and then analyzes aspects of material culture related to the life of books in the Middle Ages - manuscript production, dissemination, as well as the formation of the readership, while the third part explains the concept of the "living Middle Ages" itself. This concept is also essential for the scientific contribution of this work because it connects the creativity of the Middle Ages with modern art in terms of originality, authorship and immutability of artifacts. The author reveals the influences of medieval aesthetics on contemporary fine and film art in a series of sophisticated, subtle analyzes that deal with Russian, German-Japanese, Italian and finally truly global and transnational films. These concluding chapters introduce a new paradigm in medieval studies, a different, fresh and compelling look at the enduring relevance of the Middle Ages. What makes this work particularly interesting is the accessible presentation of new and exciting ideas that make knowledge about the Middle Ages attractive to a wider readership.
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