Medieval Superstar: An Examination of Far-East Asian Adaptations and Appropriations of Arthuriana

Abstract

This thesis attempts to solve a paradox: the tremendous popularity of King Arthur in Far- East Asia, where he has become better known than some of the local legends. Yet, the legendary king does not seem to have any perceptible connections to the region or the people. Due to the lack of scholarship in the field of Arthurian adaptations in Far-East Asia, the thesis heavily relies on textual analysis of several primary sources that include the works produced within the region as well as those from the West. By relating the primary sources to events in history, from cultural reforms to hostile takeover, the thesis hopes to plot the literary history of Arthur from Middle Ages Europe to modern post-World War II Asia. In doing so, the unifying thread that connects the primary sources to the region's public will be made apparent. The central argument contends that Arthuriana is a self-sustaining collection that contains all Arthurian works ever produced, and that every Arthurian work benefits by resonating with the vast cauldron of stories that is Arthuriana. In Far-East Asia, however, this mutual resonance is unavailable due to the regions's cultural and geographical isolation from the tradition, hence the paradox of King Arthur's superstardom. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first establishes the idea of Arthuriana in detail by providing precedents of adaptive traditions in medieval Europe. The second and the third chapter will attempt to discover the connections that the Arthurian adaptations and appropriations maintain with Arthuriana despite the Arthur's extremely foreign nature. Although the thesis is divided, all three chapters need to be understood in unison in order to grasp the overarching theme of Arthur's anchorage in local Far-East Asian traditions that guide him back to Arthuriana: affinity in difference.