Dear colleagues,
I would be very grateful if you could circulate this Call for Papers on the reconstruction and remembering of the idea of Germania from 1500 to 2009 (see below). The conference is Nov 19-20 2009, and the deadline for abstracts is Jan 31, 2009.
We have already received papers from the USA, UK, Switzerland, Germany and Austria, and are looking forward to a truly interdisciplinary conference. We already have contributions on the notion of Germania in musicology, 19th-century medievalism, 17th-century linguistic thought, Humanist history .... We plan to publish the papers as a volume in the Proceedings of the British Academy series.
Because we want a strong interdisciplinary programme, we would in particular appreciate it if you would post the CFP on any of your own subject mailing lists to which you belong!
Dr Nicola McLelland
Germania Remembered 1500-2009. An International Conference
Thursday, 19 and Friday, 20 November 2009
Venue: Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies, University of London
Second Call for Papers (deadline for abstracts January 31, 2009)
2009 marks the 2000th anniversary of the Battle of the Teutoburger Wald (Hermannsschlacht) when 'Hermann' (Arminius) and the Germanic tribe of the Cherusci defeated the Roman forces. This event is widely remembered in post-medieval sources, where it has served as a template for a proud tradition of 'free Germania' for writers and scholars in Germany and beyond. Ever since the rediscovery of sources like Tacitus's Germania in the 15th century, not just remembrance of the Teutoburger Wald, but also subsequent rediscoveries and re-creations of the Germanic inheritance have been incorporated into the self-images of Germany and of other countries. Such remembrances and reinventions have taken many different forms, from uncritical praise (as 17th-century cultural patriots' praise for the ancient Germanic language), to Romantic medievalism, to biting satire (such as Heine's Nordsee 1825) and Nazi mythologizing.
The tradition of Germania in German and other literatures and cultures will be explored at a Symposium in 2009 at the IGRS, London. How is Germania - the peoples, customs and morals, language and literature, of ancient northern Europe - remembered and reinvented from 1500-2009? How do such remembrances and re-creations help construct national or trans-national identities, in Europe and beyond? We particularly invite comparative approaches, whether exploring continuities and discontinuities over time, or examining similarities and differences between individual writers, between discourse traditions, and/or in different countries.
Plenary papers:
Professor Roberta Frank: Arminius and the North: A User's Guide
Professor Frank has published widely on medievalism, and is Marie Borroff Professor of English at Yale University.
Professor Alexander Rehding: 'Urklänge': the search for the origins of German music
Professor Rehding is in the Department of Music at Harvard. His article 'The Quest for the Origins of Music in Germany Circa 1900' was awarded the Jerome Roche Prize of the Royal Musical Association in 2001.
Conference strands:
1. Urtext, Ursprache? The Germanic inheritance in language history and philology
2. Re-inventing traditions: The recreated Germanic past in literature and culture
3. Germania Historia: The Germanic past in history and philosophy
4. Stage and Screen: The Germanic past in theatre and film
Submission of Abstracts: Abstracts of 350 words should be emailed (preferably as Word attachments) to the organizers (email below) by January 31st, 2009, indicating under which panel you wish to be considered.
For all enquiries, please contact the organizers: Dr Christina Lee (School of English Studies, University of Nottingham) [log in to unmask], & Dr Nicola McLelland (School of Modern Languages, University of Nottingham) [log in to unmask]; http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/medieval/index.php
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