Miyashiro, Adam. "Comparative epics: Teaching El Cantar de Mio Cid." Throughlines. www.throughlines.org/suite-content/comparative-epics-teaching-el-cantar-de-mio-cid. [Date accessed].
Comparative epics: Teaching El Cantar de Mio Cid
Expanding and complicating the crusades rhetoric in medieval Europe.
The 13th-century heroic narrative, El Poema de Mio Cid, was set in the culturally diverse landscape of the Iberian Peninsula. It takes place in the late 11th century, during the southward expansion of the Kingdom of Castile. When teaching The Cid, it is important to pay close attention to the differences in how Muslims are depicted in this poem, particularly in comparison to how they are represented in La Chanson de Roland. Students are asked: what work is the poem doing within its historical context? How is this text later used to develop a Spanish national identity?
Further learning
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La Chanson de Roland and white supremacist medievalisms
La Chanson de Roland as a national epic was a product of both European nationalist and colonial aspirations. It's important for students to understand how the poem and its histories can reiterate Eurocentric white supremacist values if not properly contextualized.
