The Author: James R. Simpson is Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Glasgow, UK. He is the author of Fantasy, Identity and Misrecognition in Medieval French Narrative.

• Contents: Postcolonial approaches to medieval literature – Arthurian literature and its sources – Kingship and charismatic authority – Court scandal in medieval literature – Cultural relations/conflict in medieval literature – Tournaments in medieval literature – Representations of marriage in medieval literature – Court ceremony in medieval literature – Court society in medieval literature – Representations of royal anger – Food and court society – Sexuality in medieval literature – Giants and monstrosity in medieval literature – Monstrosity and sexuality in medieval literature – Suicide in medieval literature – Intertextual relations in vernacular literature – Consolation in medieval literature – Burlesque in medieval literature – Queer theory and medieval literary studies.

«Simpson's writing style is clever, playful, creative – and for that reason supremely appropriate to an analysis of Chrétien de Troyes. [...] Simpson is as hilarious as he is insightful, a perfect match between writer and subject.» (Jeffrey J. Cohen, In the Middle)