Wolf-sick: A Trans Retelling of Marie de France’s Bisclavret
Level of Education of Students Involved
Undergraduate
Faculty Sponsor
Benjamin Brobst-Renaud
College
Arts and Sciences
Discipline(s)
Art, History, Literature, Humanities, Queer Studies
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Symposium Date
Spring 4-25-2024
Abstract
Marie de France’s 12th century poem Bisclavret tells the story of a werewolf trapped in lupine form, maliciously kept from the one thing that can turn him human again. Drawing upon academic analysis of the poem’s queer desire, the historical artform of illuminated manuscript, and the artist’s experiences as a transgender man, WOLF-SICK is a prose adaptation of Bisclavret (as translated by Glyn S. Burgess & Keith Busby [1999] and David R. Slavitt [2019]) accompanied by original illustrations. WOLF-SICK is presented in metallic silver ink on dyed black plastic vellum. Utilizing the bespoke nature of calligraphy and handsewn bookbinding with the mass-productive potential of block-printed illustration, WOLF-SICK combines the natural with the synthetic and the antiquated with the modern to reclaim a historical queer narrative and retell Marie de France’s story for a new audience.
Recommended Citation
Gifford, Zion, "Wolf-sick: A Trans Retelling of Marie de France’s Bisclavret" (2024). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1236.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1236
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Zion Gifford is a senior Studio Arts major with minors in Psychology and English. His work emphasizes cultural maintenance, queer experiences, and European folklore. He has a great appreciation for the symbolic nature of medieval art, as well as such arts’ potential for queer readings. He has previously explored these topics in artworks such as "Natural Law" and literary analyses such as "Hotwives and Puppyboys: Queer Kink in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight & Bisclavret".