My research interests include the body, pain and its representations, women and gender studies, sexuality, the history of medicine, the medical humanities, medievalism, utopia, apocalypse, fantasy, and science fiction. I’m particularly interested in the ways that we ascribe meaning to the body and its physiological processes, how we use the body to create categories, and the way the body is appropriated and fragmented through metaphor, metonymy, and synechdoche. Supervisors: Ruth Evans
The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique,... more The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique, heavily populated virtual reality wherein player characters are explicitly differentiated by the physical characteristics of their avatars. To investigate the way real-life race perceptions influence these adopted player-character identities, we invited MMO players to participate in an online survey. In this study, we are particularly interested in overlap, or deviation, between real-life racial perceptions and the perception of fictional fantastic races (elves, dwarves). On the basis of the data collected, we found that whether players consciously associate themselves with their avatars or consciously dissociate themselves from their avatars, real-life racial tendencies unconsciously manifest through players' choices of their avatars and in their interactions with other players within the game environment.
The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique,... more The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique, heavily populated virtual reality wherein player characters are explicitly differentiated by the physical characteristics of their avatars. To investigate the way real-life race perceptions influence these adopted player-character identities, we invited MMO players to participate in an online survey. In this study, we are particularly interested in overlap, or deviation, between real-life racial perceptions and the perception of fictional fantastic races (elves, dwarves). On the basis of the data collected, we found that whether players consciously associate themselves with their avatars or consciously dissociate themselves from their avatars, real-life racial tendencies unconsciously manifest through players' choices of their avatars and in their interactions with other players within the game environment.
Much criticism has focused on the fact that Arcite and Palamon in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale are vir... more Much criticism has focused on the fact that Arcite and Palamon in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale are virtually identical, and much ink has been spilled trying to establish something to distinguish these two
characters or to establish why Arcite should have to suffer such a horrific death while Palamon marries Emelye. The extreme case of this perceived identicalness can be seen in Georgia Ronan Crampton’s unilateral categorization of all characters in The Knight’s Tale, with the exception of Theseus, as sufferers and victims. Crampton sees the one defining narrative aspect of Arcite’s character, his suffering, as something that is an equally important aspect of Palamon’s character. Considering that Chaucer fronts Arcite’s suffering not once, but twice, in the narrative, it seems worthwhile to question how Arcite could then be so collapsed with his cousin. The description that Chaucer provides concerning the suffering of Arcite’s body is so detailed, so very graphic, that its narrative purpose is worth revisiting. This paper will examine the pain and suffering endured by Arcite during both his lovesickness and his fatal injury, with special consideration of the narrative purpose and effect of such detailed descriptions of the medical conditions, their underlying causes, and the physical suffering experienced by Arcite.
The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique,... more The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique, heavily populated virtual reality wherein player characters are explicitly differentiated by the physical characteristics of their avatars. To investigate the way real-life race perceptions influence these adopted player-character identities, we invited MMO players to participate in an online survey. In this study, we are particularly interested in overlap, or deviation, between real-life racial perceptions and the perception of fictional fantastic races (elves, dwarves). On the basis of the data collected, we found that whether players consciously associate themselves with their avatars or consciously dissociate themselves from their avatars, real-life racial tendencies unconsciously manifest through players' choices of their avatars and in their interactions with other players within the game environment.
The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique,... more The popularity of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) has created a unique, heavily populated virtual reality wherein player characters are explicitly differentiated by the physical characteristics of their avatars. To investigate the way real-life race perceptions influence these adopted player-character identities, we invited MMO players to participate in an online survey. In this study, we are particularly interested in overlap, or deviation, between real-life racial perceptions and the perception of fictional fantastic races (elves, dwarves). On the basis of the data collected, we found that whether players consciously associate themselves with their avatars or consciously dissociate themselves from their avatars, real-life racial tendencies unconsciously manifest through players' choices of their avatars and in their interactions with other players within the game environment.
Much criticism has focused on the fact that Arcite and Palamon in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale are vir... more Much criticism has focused on the fact that Arcite and Palamon in Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale are virtually identical, and much ink has been spilled trying to establish something to distinguish these two
characters or to establish why Arcite should have to suffer such a horrific death while Palamon marries Emelye. The extreme case of this perceived identicalness can be seen in Georgia Ronan Crampton’s unilateral categorization of all characters in The Knight’s Tale, with the exception of Theseus, as sufferers and victims. Crampton sees the one defining narrative aspect of Arcite’s character, his suffering, as something that is an equally important aspect of Palamon’s character. Considering that Chaucer fronts Arcite’s suffering not once, but twice, in the narrative, it seems worthwhile to question how Arcite could then be so collapsed with his cousin. The description that Chaucer provides concerning the suffering of Arcite’s body is so detailed, so very graphic, that its narrative purpose is worth revisiting. This paper will examine the pain and suffering endured by Arcite during both his lovesickness and his fatal injury, with special consideration of the narrative purpose and effect of such detailed descriptions of the medical conditions, their underlying causes, and the physical suffering experienced by Arcite.
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Papers by Amanda Barton
Conference Presentations by Amanda Barton
characters or to establish why Arcite should have to suffer such a horrific death while Palamon marries Emelye. The extreme case of this perceived identicalness can be seen in Georgia Ronan Crampton’s unilateral categorization of all characters in The Knight’s Tale, with the exception of Theseus, as sufferers and victims. Crampton sees the one defining narrative aspect of Arcite’s character, his suffering, as something that is an equally important aspect of Palamon’s character. Considering that Chaucer fronts Arcite’s suffering not once, but twice, in the narrative, it seems worthwhile to question how Arcite could then be so collapsed with his cousin. The description that Chaucer provides concerning the suffering of Arcite’s body is so detailed, so very graphic, that its narrative purpose is worth revisiting. This paper will examine the pain and suffering endured by Arcite during both his lovesickness and his fatal injury, with special consideration of the narrative purpose and effect of such detailed descriptions of the medical conditions, their underlying causes, and the physical suffering experienced by Arcite.
characters or to establish why Arcite should have to suffer such a horrific death while Palamon marries Emelye. The extreme case of this perceived identicalness can be seen in Georgia Ronan Crampton’s unilateral categorization of all characters in The Knight’s Tale, with the exception of Theseus, as sufferers and victims. Crampton sees the one defining narrative aspect of Arcite’s character, his suffering, as something that is an equally important aspect of Palamon’s character. Considering that Chaucer fronts Arcite’s suffering not once, but twice, in the narrative, it seems worthwhile to question how Arcite could then be so collapsed with his cousin. The description that Chaucer provides concerning the suffering of Arcite’s body is so detailed, so very graphic, that its narrative purpose is worth revisiting. This paper will examine the pain and suffering endured by Arcite during both his lovesickness and his fatal injury, with special consideration of the narrative purpose and effect of such detailed descriptions of the medical conditions, their underlying causes, and the physical suffering experienced by Arcite.