Different and Familiar: Les enfances Renier and the Question of Medieval Orientalism

Some medievalists use “medieval Orientalism” to address critiques of Edward Said's engagement with the Middle Ages in Orientalism. However, the author of this article argues that “medieval Orientalism” entrenches a divide between the Middle Ages and other time periods, which sequesters medieval objects of study from contributing to the ongoing theorization of critical frameworks. The article analyzes a thirteenth-century Old French text, Les enfances Renier, to demonstrate how a medieval text depicts ambivalence in the face of alterity, a hallmark of recent post-Saidian engagement with Orientalism. The author argues that the nuances and complexities of medieval representations of interfaith encounter contribute to theories of Orientalism.