'The Australian Popular Medievalism research dataset (APM), published through AustLit, was born out of two keen interests: I am both a passionate advocate of popular fiction and a scholar who is fascinated by contemporary medievalism. The overlap of these two areas of interest constitutes a large segment of contemporary Australian literature, a segment that has not yet been explored in sufficient depth or detail: perhaps because the Middle Ages seem a long way removed from contemporary Australian culture, and perhaps because popular fiction has traditionally found it difficult to attract critical attention. Currently, there is strong growth in the research field of contemporary medievalism, both internationally and in Australia. The APM project and this paper aim to signal the importance of Australian popular medievalism and raise issues for researchers in the field to consider. The APM explores medievalism in contemporary adult popular fiction by creating a dataset of annotated bibliographical records published between 1995 and 2010, rating the directness and penetration of medieval ideas and images.'

Source: Wilkins, Kim. 'Bell, Book and Battleaxe'.