The So What welcomes proposals for short, public-facing pieces engaging with Netflix’s The Decameron for a special issue of TSW planned for web publication in late 2025.

We are interested in critical, pedagogical, and creative pieces that explore the Netflix series from a wide variety of angles and approaches, including: plague studies, the history of medicine and science, premodern critical race studies, gender and sexuality studies, disability studies, adaptation theory, and so on. We particularly welcome pieces that consider how the series helps us think more about our own time, including but not limited to: 

• How pandemics (re)shape art and the world;

• How Tindaro’s characterization unpacks “thinking about the Roman Empire” masculinity;

• How we might think about Dioneo and the idea of a “medieval f*ck boy”;

• How medievalisms reinforce or complicate social rank and status, from subservience to “eat the rich”;

• The relationships between spiritual and sexual ecstasy;

• How medievalisms engage with early globalities;

• The effects of historical representation, including representations of queer desire; 

• What makes for “bad” medievalism*;

• The appeals of kitsch, camp, or guilty pleasure medievalisms;

• And similar topics.

*Hate watch pieces are certainly welcome, please send us your myriad proposals!

***Proposal Submission Deadline: December 31st, 2024***

The So Whatis a public-facing, digital publication, sponsored by Arthuriana, that focuses on the ‘whys’ and ‘so whats’ of medieval studies and pedagogy. TSW pieces are peer-reviewed, open-access works geared toward a broad audience. We believe that more explicitly discussing the ‘so whats’ of medieval studies, including its connections to and appearances in more ‘modern’ and ‘contemporary’ culture is of great value to the field, to public discourse, and for promoting inquiry, equity, and justice. As such, we welcome proposals for pieces exploring the ‘so whats’ of medieval studies and medievalisms, as well as short, pedagogical and/or creative pieces.

Style and submission guides are available on our site. Proposals and questions can be emailed to thesowhatpub@gmail.com.