Moments and methods of arousal lie at the heart of medieval performance. From scenes that enflame our lust for the virgin saints to embodied devotional practices that stimulate sensual encounters with holy figures, desire lies at the heart of the dramatic encounters of the Middle Ages. Medieval performance serves as a force of arousal and of stimulation, moving the participants and audience from the simplicity of pleasure or pain to the possibility of a transcendent experience in which visions and materiality combine to connect the earthly with the heavenly: through the awakening and cultivation of bodily experience, the embodied arousals of medieval performance permit access to the divine.
This session seeks contributions of short scholarly papers that actively engage with questions of arousal in medieval drama and performance practices.
Possible paper topics include:
--How does a focus upon arousal in its various forms permit us to refocus or stimulate medieval drama studies?
--How do the pain and pleasure of medieval performances – past and present – incite action, inaction, or reaction?
--How does medieval drama and performance practice create arousal, relative to the identity and material experience of the scholar, practitioner, or audience member?
--What fusions and fissions are created when medieval and modern modes of arousal collide, in scholarship or on stage?
--What processes or goals do individual moments of medieval arousal enact?
--Does the performance of arousal have a history that is specifically medieval?
This is an ongoing working group focused on Medieval Performance; as in previous years, discussions will begin in the months prior to the meeting in order to foster a deeper exchange in person. We invite participation from scholars and practitioners of medieval performance, both institutionally-based and independent, and from graduate students as well as more senior scholars.
TO PROPOSE A PAPER: Please submit a 500-word abstract that makes specific reference to the session’s theme to the conference website (http://www.astr.org/page/18_WSSubmissions), selecting “Arousal and Medieval Performance” as your first choice working group. Abstracts are due June 1; accepted participants will be notified by July 1; completed papers will be due by September 7 for circulation and discussion.
CONTACT: Feel free to contact the co-organizers, Susannah Crowder ([email protected]) and Jacqueline Jenkins ([email protected]), with questions about the session; for general information about the 2018 ASTR Conference, please visit http://www.astr.org/page/18_Conference.
1. A 5-page summary of the proposed paper, indicating clearly the methodological implications in relation to images, with a bibliography (one file)
2. A curriculum vitae (one file)
Application deadline: May 14, 2018
Send applications by email to Susan Boynton ([email protected]) and Anne-Orange Poilpré ([email protected]); send applications to both addresses.
Decisions will be communicated by July 1, 2018.
The papers must be written and sent (with illustrations) to the organizers before October 1, 2018. The texts should be limited to about 3200 words (not including footnotes).