The concept of storyworlds has enlivened recent approaches to the study of narrative. Developed especially to account for phenomena in modern popular culture — from film franchises, to gaming, to artworks engaging multiple media — and animated by new research in the psychology of imaginative experiences, the idea of immersive storyworlds has reshaped concepts such as setting, emplotment, and fictionality.

Medieval literature is full of storyworld effects. Devout Christians projected themselves into the world of the Bible and the saints. Listening audiences immersed themselves in the recitation of folktales and the staging of dramas. When viewers encountered visual artworks, they did so in light of well-known back stories. Distant, exotic, miraculous, and magical narrative worlds were as familiar as realistic ones, while legendary heroes such as King Arthur and Robin Hood anchored whole realms of stories, plays, and songs.

In this course we will delve into some of the narrative worlds most familiar to generations of medieval readers and writers. We will analyze written texts (both learned and popular), visual artworks, and other elements that enlivened the circulation of stories across medieval Europe. We will ask how the notion of storyworlds can enrich our understanding of these stories, and also how this medieval material might offer new insights to modern narrative theory.