Visual Aggression: Images of Martyrdom in Late Medieval Germany by Assaf Pinkus (review)

Abstract

JMRC_48_2_06_Book_Reviews.indd Page 271 22/07/22 4:42 PM than those deriving from relations based on force (its relations with its own internal components, and those with its congeners—invariably rivals and virtual adversaries)” (279). Lefebvre’s attention to issues of state violence and systems of power distribution among the elite can shed additional light on Fitzgerald’s own discussion of Satan’s rebellion against divine authority and his construction of a subversive, alternative kingdom in hell. Fitzgerald’s work opens the door for future studies that more fully explore the interaction of sovereignty and space in early England. Fitzgerald chooses not to critically address how many of the rebel angels narratives are couched within appeals to English origin myths, English exceptionalism, and English as God’s chosen heirs—conversations that continue to be crucial within studies of early English literary and political histories. Bringing her work into conversation with recent scholarship on white heritage politics and early English texts would bring a fruitful and necessary dimension to this conversation about power, territory, inheritance, and dissent. Rebel Angels also presents numerous opportunities to examine Satan’s subversion of God’s territorial sovereignty through the lens of queer theory and queer modes of production and creation. Overall, the book will be valuable to any student or scholar researching early English history and religious culture. The close readings of Old English poetry also present valuable insight into literary culture’s interactions with spiritual and secular systems of power and governance.