CALL FOR PAPERS: Superstition and Magic in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods

Princeton Medieval Studies Graduate Student Conference, April 20, 2018

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Michael Bailey

In an age when authorities attempt to assault our modern modes of critical thinking, the term “superstition” and its premodern associations take on rearranged values. Current political discourse denounces fake news and climate change as humbug with a zeal not unlike that of medieval and early modern establishments censuring false prophets and fallacious astrologers. Given these similarities, the classic narrative of a medieval society emerging into a modern one, “the disenchantment of the world” (Max Weber), urgently needs reappraisal. This conference proposes the examination of a wide range of evidence in various genres over time in order to foster this dialogue. In returning to the original meaning of “superstition” as an excessive fearfulness or belief, or a misapprehended and abused knowledge of a supernatural subject, how can we refine our understanding of superstition and magic in the premodern world? How can we make the overlaps between science, superstition, and magic productive?

We invite interdisciplinary submissions on diverse topics related to medieval and early modern superstition and magic. Some themes of the conference include, but are not limited to:

• Control and influence exerted by the Church and universities
• The historical development of demonology 
• The Witch Crisis: gender and authority 
• Elite vs. folk magic; paganism and popular religion
• Heresy and superstition
• Depiction of magical elements in literature and visual culture
• The impact of various religious reform movements, including the Reformation and Counterreformation, on belief, magic, and ritual
• Music and metaphysics 
• Oaths, incantations, and spells: the power of words
• Natural philosophy: astrology, alchemy, medical practices, etc.
• Material history and archaeology 
• Co-mingling of Eastern and Western traditions; book magic; Kabbalah
• Esoteric belief systems and the rise of secret societies
• The law: ordeals, witch-hunts, and policing of superstitious practices

In order to support participation by speakers from outside the northeastern United States, we are offering limited subsidies to help offset the cost of travel to Princeton. Financial assistance may not be available for every participant, with funding priority going to those who have the farthest to travel. Speakers will have the option of staying with a resident graduate student to defray their expenses.
Interested graduate students should submit abstracts of no more than 500 words to Sonja Andersen and Jonathan Martin at superstition2018@gmail.com by February 15, 2018.

All applicants will be notified about their submissions by February 24, 2018. Presentations should be no longer than 20 minutes.

Greek Texts and the Early Modern Stage

Monday 14 July 2014, University of York, UK

Keynote Speakers: Gordon Braden (University of Virginia), Yves Peyré (IRCL ­ Montpellier III)

Roundtable discussion: Fiona Macintosh (Oxford), Charles Martindale (York), Richard Rowland (York)

This colloquium will explore the impact of Greek texts on the drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Although recent criticism has revitalised discussions of early modern engagement with Latin literature, there has been little attention to the way English playwrights responded to Greek writers. Yet Greek texts circulated at this time, in the original language as well as in translations and adaptations, and critics are beginning to explore their consequences for the period's literary production. Greek provoked strong responses for a number of reasons: its controversial associations with Erasmus, Protestantism, and heresy; the spectre of democratic governance; the rebirth of interest in Galenic medicine; the pervasive influence of Greek culture on Latin literature; and the identification of Greece with the origins of theatre. Excavating the influence of Greek texts in this period comes with a set of challenges that require new approaches to classical reception. The distinctive complications surrounding the transmission of Greek texts give a new role to history of the book in such work. The texts¹ simultaneous availability in original and mediated versions calls for new approaches to reading and intertextuality. The context of the early professional theatre, and therefore of viewers and readers lacking reliable familiarity with Greek texts, poses anew the question of the audience of classical reception.

Programme and details at http://www.york.ac.uk/crems/events/events/2013-14/greek-texts/
Co-organisers: Tania Demetriou (York) and Tanya Pollard (Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY)