Wales and the Medieval Colonial Imagination

Focusing on works by some of the major literary figures of the period, Faletra argues that the legendary history of Britain that flourished in medieval chronicles and Arthurian romances traces its origins to twelfth-century Anglo-Norman colonial interest in Wales and the Welsh.

“This is a valuable study, particularly due to Faletra’s own synthesis of postcolonial theorists with old-school literary criticism and post-Conquest Insular history. … Fale­tra has produced a timely, well-written, and thoughtful study. His is not only one of the most recent postcolonial readings of Anglo-Norman literature, it is also one of the more successful. … Wales and the Medieval Colonial Imagination will appeal to students of twelfth-century Arthurian literature, post-Conquest Insular literature and history, and medieval notions of the nation.” (K. S. Whetter, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Vol. 116 (3), July, 2017)

"An eminently useful book and one that should be explored in all its complexity by anyone interested in the authors, postcolonial studies of the middle ages, or British literary culture in the twelfth century." - The Medieval Review

"In this crucial intervention in the burgeoning field of post-Conquest Insular studies, Faletra shows how central the Welsh periphery was to the political consciousness of twelfth-century England. Founding his analysis upon the radical disjuncture Geoffrey of Monmouth effected between the ancient British (the glorified neo-Trojan rulers of the first Insular imperium) and the twelfth-century Welsh (their descendants who have nonetheless degenerated into barbarous alterity), Faletra argues that authors as varied as John of Salisbury, Marie de France, Walter Map, Chrétien de Troyes, and Gerald of Wales turned to Wales and the Welsh as paradigms through which to negotiate anxieties of ethnic specificity, cultural hybridity, and temporal dominion." - David Rollo, Professor of English, University of Southern California, USA, and author of Historical Fabrication, Ethnic Fable and French Romance in Twelfth-Century England

"Faletra has composed an ambitious and challenging account dedicated to the proposition that the complex representation of Wales in medieval literature should matter to everyone interested in the development of medieval European culture. Placing the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth at the heart of his narrative, Faletra traces the resonances of Geoffrey's work in a variety of French and Latin texts from the twelfth century, as well as considering the contact of Welsh literature with these other British and French traditions." - Simon Meecham-Jones, Affiliated Lecturer for the English Faculty, University of Cambridge, UK

Michael A. Faletra is an Associate Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College, USA.