7 - The Arthur of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

Summary

The Arthurian legend of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is a remarkably malleable body of material, capable of being expanded, contracted, or radically changed in form to fit the design of an author or the tastes of the public. Since 1900, and far more so since 1950, the legend has been shaped into social and political satire, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, feminist fiction, mysteries and thrillers, comic books, and more than a few examples of pure silliness, both on the printed page and on the screen and stage. In addition, we have a good many basic retellings of the traditional story, most inspired by Malory and recast either for adults or, more often, for young readers. Such adaptations are accomplished with varying degrees of fidelity either to the source or to the presumed spirit of the 'Arthurian period', whether that period is assumed to be the sub-Roman 'Dark Ages' or, more often, the high Middle Ages. It is perhaps not entirely surprising that Arthur, in his modern incarnations, is most popular in literature written in English. He was known as King of the Britons, and in addition Middle English Arthurian literature includes the most influential late-medieval text, the works of Sir Thomas Malory. However, these two facts are not sufficient to explain Arthur's greater hold on the imagination of anglophone authors and readers. After all, the great flowering of Arthuriana occurred on the Continent, with France in the lead and other languages and lands close behind.