IMITATION AND SIMULATION OF THE MEDIEVAL NARRATIONS IN MODERN MEDIEVALISM: FEATURES OF THE STRUCTURE AND ITS (DE)CONSTRUCTION

Goal. The goal of the article is to analyze the constructed “medieval” narrative in the texts of George Martin and other American authors, who form synthetic versions of the political, social, cultural and religious history of the Seven Kingdoms. The novelty of the article lies in the study of the features of the historical narrative in the texts of George Martin in contexts of its imitation and simulation of the medieval narrative structure of the text in combination with elements and techniques of postmodern prose. Methodology. Methodologically, the article is based on the principles of interdisciplinary historiography proposed in intellectual and cultural history, as well as in the study of medievalism as a synthetic form of mass ideas about the Middle Ages in the modern consumer society. Results. It is assumed that George Martin and his co-authors proposed a successful model for imitation of the medieval historical narrative, simulating the style and narrative techniques of medieval historical writings. This article analyzes the problems of historical narrative in the contexts of imagination, invention, simulation, imitation, construction and deconstruction. The author analyzes the systemic themes that form the historical narrative of George Martin. The author believes that chronology, religiosity, the heterogeneous nature of the text, images of Otherness, the presence of a hero of history form the basis of the simulated medieval historical narrative. It is shown that George Martin’s texts formally imitate the style of medieval narration, but actually actualize the potential of simulation and imitation of modern postmodern culture. Conclusions. The article shows that 1) George Martin and his co-authors reproduce a conditional “medieval” text, which is actually a construct, 2) the analyzed text can be interpreted in the categories of construction, deconstruction, assimilation, simulation and imitation, 3) the analyzed narrative is a form of deconstruction of the past, constructing alternative and parallel images of the Middle Ages, 4) George Martin’s texts can be described as attempts to assimilate academic medievalism and mass cultural medievalism.