ABSTRACT
Using a term coined by sociologist Stijn Reijnders, Alexandra Sterling-Hellenbrand investigates the ways in which courtly locations decorated with Arthurian figures draw in the viewer and make the past present. According to Reijnders, “places of imagination” are generated through a cyclical process in which a location inspires a writer to create an imaginary place that will, in turn, inspire readers to seek out the physical spaces associated with the imaginary narrative. Using visual representations of German courtly literature, medieval patrons fashioned just such places of the imagination, which gave material shape and substance to the heroic narratives that they enjoyed. Two surviving mural cycles – at Rodenegg Castle and Schmalkalden − create new discursive spaces, dynamic places of imagination that evoke the modern concept of virtuality. Narrative thus transformed into art becomes kinesthetic, allowing readers/viewers to walk with King Arthur and his fictional knights in an actual place where imagined past and real present commingle.
