The “Battle of the Bastards”: A Tactical Iconic Narrative

2023

This book focuses on the characters that populate the Game of Thrones universe and on one of the most salient features of their interaction: violence and warfare. It analyses these questions from a multidisciplinary perspective that is chiefly based on Classical Studies.

Bohemia 61, 2021

Looking at mythical dimensions in medieval narratives, the aim of this paper is to show – by discussing monstrosity in conjunction with femininity and orientalism respectively – that medievalism, which is not automatically a purely creative preoccupation with the past, needs our critical attention. This is therefore a call for critical medievalism. The show Game of Thrones operates on medievalist fantasy elements which are grafted onto a long tradition of appropriating the past and using it as an imaginary canvas. Medieval tales themselves functioned on a mythical plane where the line between claims to historical accuracy and creative leeway is blurred. Using the concept of “mythical thinking” as expounded in Ernst Cassirer’s work, we can see how the medieval narratives Mélusine and Duke Ernst deploy mythical elements. Investigation into aspects of femininity in conjunction with bestiality on the one hand and orientalism on the other with the help of Cassirer’s “mythical thinking” elucidates the ways in which cultural and historical appropriation work. Reminding the reader of Umberto Eco’s as well as J. R. R. Tolkien’s view on medievalism, the author – in light of politicised forms of the preoccupation with the medieval past – calls for critical medievalism.

Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 2022

In this article, the first work in the fantasy literature series, titled A Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin will be analyzed in relation to the author’s use of proverbs, in order to determine the role that these play in the narration and what their features are. This choice seems appropriate for the analysis of folklore elements, such as proverbs, given the popularity of the series and its presumed contribution to the spread of phraseology. In the analysis of this text, a rather interesting approach to proverbs emerges, one in which the author makes use of proverbs existing in the real world, as well as creates his own, ad hoc, for this literary composition. These occurrences seem particularly interesting and will be analyzed in detail to determine whether they produce the desired effect and whether they follow the expected use of proverbs in real life.

Archivum, 2023

The television series Game of Thrones (2011‒2019) was a cultural phenomenon that aroused great interest among audiences worldwide. HBO’s adaptation of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series can be deemed as a milestone for the fantasy genre, which has traditionally never been regarded as mainstream. Nevertheless, this level of success was only possible thanks to the brilliance in terms of storytelling with which palace intrigues were handled, most of them being orchestrated by the polarising characters of Petyr Baelish and Tywin Lannister: all of their spine-chilling schemes plunge Westeros into utter chaos, thus enabling plot development indirectly. Therefore, the aim of this article is to carry out a thorough comparative analysis of the aforementioned characters considering the notion of hegemonic masculinity, the understanding of subalternity by Gramsci, and the medieval social implications of hostageship in order to examine how the mayhem they cause inevitably triggers plot progression, thus subverting Propp’s original conception of the helper while overlapping with the character type of the villain.

Revista de Comunicación de la SEECI, 2024

Introduction: Sun Tzu's Art of War, a book on war strategy, is considered a source of inspiration for cinematography in the field of strategic management, as numerous films inspired by its precepts are used as didactic examples in universities and business schools. Objective: This paper analyzes Sun Tzu's work and its intertextuality between literature, cinematography and education. Specifically, it investigates whether the Game of Thrones series captures the strategic axioms of the work and whether

In 2019 I started to work on a small volume on the popular TV franchise 'Game of Thrones' from a political theory perspective; convinced that the show’s plot means not only to expose oneself to the thrills of a sex- and violence-laden fantasy adventure, but to constantly (even if often involuntarily) engage in an exercise of political morality. Watching ‘Game of Thrones’, I thought, requires to do more than simply love or hate the protagonists as they fail or succeed in fighting, scheming and plotting their way to the ‘Iron Throne’. It requires to make political judgments about the agents and their actions. Thus: why not use the characters of the show, the challenges they face, the institutions that determine their fate and the social and legal norms that govern their conduct as a background for an essay in political theory? Save for one chapter, alas, the book has never been written. This chapter (originally intended to be the sixth) focuses on the 'Night's Watch'.

Game of Thrones is one of the most watched shows on television with as many as 16 million people tuning in for the final episode of the last season. It is based on an astounding work of literature, but what lies underneath is a depiction of real military history. Game of Thrones is fiction, but The Allure of Battle covers a strenuous reality that history has witnessed in the previous centuries. Nolan’s encyclopedic book, situated at the intersection of military history, statecraft, and international relations, presents a nuanced understanding of battles and wars. It provides a detailed explanation of the military history and at the same time offers a critique of war. This makes it exciting and an engrossing read.

2023

Analyses the Game of Thrones universe from different academic perspectives Broadens the understanding of the Game of Thrones universe, focusing on nature, landscape, and culture Brings the humanities to the fore in comprehending Game of Thrones

"Cultures of War in Graphic Novels", 2018

War has long been a central issue in graphic novels, and the exploration of conflict in this medium has been subject to increasing academic study. This focus has been mainly concentrated, however, on contemporary conflicts. Whilst understandable, this paper argues that temporal distance from conflict does not negate its significance nor does it mean that the issues raised by the graphic novel’s treatment of the genre are of little or no relevance to the contemporary reader. Accounts of medieval conflict have long been immortalised on the page: only the medium has changed over the centuries. Chroniclers of the period have long been recognised for their stylised descriptions of both individuals and battle, and so the graphic novel would appear a natural successor. As with any fictional rendering, however, historical veracity may at times cede to the demands of narrative or aesthetics, and readers and critics must bear in mind that modern depictions of the medieval are informed by the style, mores and culture of the present day and therefore have the ability to also misrepresent medieval warfare, or at least to portray it through a modern lens. This paper will focus therefore on two texts depicting the Hundred Years War. While this conflict, fought in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries between the kingdoms of England and France, is not a ‘small war’ as such, the conflict can be seen as a complex series of individual campaigns that had an important impact on medieval society and on the French countryside. Indeed, the graphic novels chosen facilitate this approach by focusing on specific, short periods of the war. Warren Ellis’s Crécy provides a warts-and-all depiction of one of the pivotal battles of the conflict focalised through an English archer who narrates his experiences in the war to the reader. More than a simple account of the battle itself, the novel also provides a depiction of medieval warfare in the Middle Ages from an English perspective. The series Le Trône d'Argile, conversely, is a product of the French bande dessinée which provides this paper with a counterpoint view of the conflict. Focusing on the fifteenth century phase of conflict this series also provides a vivid depiction of medieval warfare and combat. Both texts emphasise the violence of contemporary war, but it is important to consider the nature of this portrayal and its relevance to both medieval and modern understanding of warfare. This paper will therefore consider the depiction of warfare in these works, focusing on the visualisation of medieval warfare and medieval behaviour. In particular, by considering conduct in war, the importance and place of chivalry, and the impact of war on both individual and society, it will provide a thorough analysis of these works and the view of the medieval that they provide to a modern audience.