The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall
Brian Jacques’s Redwall series of anthropomorphic fantasy novels featuring animals divided into the noblebeast and vermin are well-loved, with the medieval images of Redwall Abbey, Mossflower and other noblebeast communities exciting the imagination of its readers. Nevertheless, there exists a bin...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2021
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18440/1/51439-173382-2-PB.pdf |
| _version_ | 1796932848524984320 |
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| author | Quah, Christopher Wai Kheong Anita Harris Satkunananthan, Ravichandran Vengadasamy, |
| author_facet | Quah, Christopher Wai Kheong Anita Harris Satkunananthan, Ravichandran Vengadasamy, |
| author_sort | Quah, Christopher Wai Kheong |
| collection | UKM |
| description | Brian Jacques’s Redwall series of anthropomorphic fantasy novels featuring animals divided into the noblebeast
and vermin are well-loved, with the medieval images of Redwall Abbey, Mossflower and other noblebeast
communities exciting the imagination of its readers. Nevertheless, there exists a binary opposition of the
noblebeast and the vermin who are vilified and portrayed as savage and amoral. This article argues that the
orientalistic roots of twentieth century fantasy novels which are based on a nostalgia for medieval times is a main
impetus for the Orientalism present in Outcast of Redwall. Concomitantly, in this article, the analysis of Outcast
of Redwall interrogates instances of Orientalism in the novel through a literary postcolonial framework,
connecting Orientalism to the idea of the Other and the Self. Specifically, the character of Veil in Outcast of
Redwall is analysed, looking at the ways in which he fails to be assimilated in the medieval society of Redwall
because of his vermin heritage. The findings from this article reveal that Orientalism is baked into the Redwall
novels and how the depiction of the vermin correlate with the ways in which the West conceived of the Orient
from the age of colonial exploration and beyond, a legacy of the ways in which the twentieth century fantasy novel
derived much of its inspiration from a medieval aesthetic that incorporates binary oppositions and a fear of the
Other. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T04:38:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | ukm.eprints-18440 |
| institution | Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T04:38:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ukm.eprints-184402022-04-16T07:15:13Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18440/ The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall Quah, Christopher Wai Kheong Anita Harris Satkunananthan, Ravichandran Vengadasamy, Brian Jacques’s Redwall series of anthropomorphic fantasy novels featuring animals divided into the noblebeast and vermin are well-loved, with the medieval images of Redwall Abbey, Mossflower and other noblebeast communities exciting the imagination of its readers. Nevertheless, there exists a binary opposition of the noblebeast and the vermin who are vilified and portrayed as savage and amoral. This article argues that the orientalistic roots of twentieth century fantasy novels which are based on a nostalgia for medieval times is a main impetus for the Orientalism present in Outcast of Redwall. Concomitantly, in this article, the analysis of Outcast of Redwall interrogates instances of Orientalism in the novel through a literary postcolonial framework, connecting Orientalism to the idea of the Other and the Self. Specifically, the character of Veil in Outcast of Redwall is analysed, looking at the ways in which he fails to be assimilated in the medieval society of Redwall because of his vermin heritage. The findings from this article reveal that Orientalism is baked into the Redwall novels and how the depiction of the vermin correlate with the ways in which the West conceived of the Orient from the age of colonial exploration and beyond, a legacy of the ways in which the twentieth century fantasy novel derived much of its inspiration from a medieval aesthetic that incorporates binary oppositions and a fear of the Other. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2021-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18440/1/51439-173382-2-PB.pdf Quah, Christopher Wai Kheong and Anita Harris Satkunananthan, and Ravichandran Vengadasamy, (2021) The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 27 (4). pp. 244-256. ISSN 0128-5157 https://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/1447 |
| spellingShingle | Quah, Christopher Wai Kheong Anita Harris Satkunananthan, Ravichandran Vengadasamy, The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall |
| title | The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall |
| title_full | The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall |
| title_fullStr | The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall |
| title_full_unstemmed | The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall |
| title_short | The other side of Redwall : medieval othering and binary oppositions in The Outcast of Redwall |
| title_sort | other side of redwall medieval othering and binary oppositions in the outcast of redwall |
| url | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/18440/1/51439-173382-2-PB.pdf |
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