Enseigner l’histoire par, pour ou malgré les séries : approche épistémologique du médiévalisme sériel

Abstract

TV series are now part of various curricula in high schools and universities in most English-speaking countries as well as in France, where they are used to teach specific subjects, including medieval History. This subject matter apparently benefits from a growing number of audiovisual productions picturing, re-interpreting and continually recreating the Middle Ages: popular TV shows like The Last Kingdom (BBC Two, 2015-2022) or fantasy series like Kaamelott (M6, 2005-2009) and Game of Thrones (HBO, 2011-2019) can be used in introductory or even advanced classes about the European Middle Ages. However, what is it we really study and transmit when we pick selected clips from medievalist TV series to teach about the Middle Ages? How are these clips analysed to serve a historical and didactic purpose? It seems that using TV series in History classes implies for the student both to understand the historical period he or she is analysing, in order to understand the potential changes made in the audiovisual representation, and to acknowledge issues of production, broadcasting and reception of TV series, to understand why these changes were made in the first place. Teaching Medieval History with and through TV series appears to be a neo-medievalist tool, a paradigm which shifts the focus from historical knowledge in itself to the way this knowledge is interpreted and used. This paper is based on the quality study of questionnaires addressed to French high school and university History teachers, focusing on their use of medievalist TV series in their medieval History classes.

Keywords

• popularisation
• teaching
• epistemology
• history
• Middle Ages
• medievalism