The Uses of Anachronism and Anachrony (MLA Guaranteed Session)
Anachronism has long been the third rail of medieval studies—or, to quote Lucien Febvre, “the worst of all sins, the sin that cannot be forgiven.” Medievalists want to get our period “right,” which has often meant understanding it in relation to “euchronic” evidence. The intolerance of anachronism is, however, in conflict with medieval literary aesthetics, which often troubles differences between past and present. It is also at odds with recent developments in adjacent fields.