Call for Papers
Renaissance Society of America Annual Meeting
March 24-26, 2011
Montreal
"Eurotrash? Modern Simulacra of Renaissance Art"
Renaissance Studies has repeatedly grappled with the functions
of antiquity in the construction of early modern notions of
history and cultural identity. In this panel, we wish to extend
temporal and geographical horizons to address the afterlife of
Renaissance and early modern cultural forms in global modernity.
We wish to examine critically the creation and survival of
early modern models and icons in the global and mass culture of
the 20th and 21st centuries, and assess how these appropriations
of the past bear upon Renaissance Studies.
In his Mnemosyne Atlas, Aby Warburg traced the forms of antique
life and art through to his own time. He understood the continuum
of the transmission and translation of motifs, and the truth of
misunderstandings. Not least because of the impact of new media,
the way in which contemporary global mass culture circulates
images that spring from and still define the Renaissance is open
to debate.
We aim to address issues relating to the reproduction and
dissemination of Renaissance forms, be they pictorial,
sculptural, architectural, theatrical, musical, cinematographic,
or literary, beyond the dichotomy of "high & low." It is natural
that the Renaissance should frame such discussions, for it was
during this period that notions of originality, replication,
copying, and faking were first systematically debated, theorized,
and put into action. It thus offers a productive field for the
examination of the historical import of such issues in the
digital age. We will focus, moreover, on the "hyper-real
simulacrum" (Baudrillard), the mimetic representation that does
more than simply reproduce, but offers something experientially
analogous to the imagined "original," which it transforms
(Barthes).
We welcome papers that address particular simulacra (recreations
of places, works of art, or particular events) and their
contexts. They might include studies of, for example, the impact
of "The Da Vinci Code" on the Louvre's new display of the Mona
Lisa, or the replication of works of art like those at Forest
Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, Los Angeles, or the reproduction of
"Venice" at The Venetian, a hotel in Las Vegas. We also welcome
studies of the reenactment of historical events, whether "real"
or "virtual," such as the reproduction of Renaissance spaces
and history in video games like "Assassin's Creed II"
(developed in Montreal). We invite examinations of architectural
reproductions, such as replications of St. Peter's in Rome,
like the Basilica of Yamoussoukro, Côte d'Ivoire (1980s), or
the Cathedral-Basilica of Mary Queen of the World in Montreal
(1875–94); the panel will comprise a visit to the latter. These
study cases shall help in understanding the theoretical
implications of the simulacrum for today's notions and
practices of history.
With attention to materials, cross-cultural, and political
contexts, as well as to survivals of meaning, we wish to open
up discussion of the Renaissance's presence in global modernity
and of the simulacrum as a model of historical transmission and
interpretation.
Interested speakers are invited to submit a paper title, an
abstract of max. 300 words, and a short CV by e-mail in English
to the organizers by May 16, 2010. Speakers must be members of
the Renaissance Society of America at the time of the conference.
Please, consult the RSA website for practical
information: http://www.rsa.org
Organizers:
Adrian W. B. Randolph, Dartmouth College
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Tristan Weddigen, University of Zurich
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