medieval

Warriors in medieval epic and chivalric romance often seem to return whole from battle even if they lose body parts or family members. They grieve deeply and vocally on the battlefield and then return to their homes or cities, seemingly ready to continue battle in the name of lost kin. Charlemagne is devastated by pain over Roland’s death in Roncevaux, demonstrated with tears and swooning. Others, like William “Short-Nose” of Orange, become famous for their lost parts, which, in absence, may even become emblematic of such warrior heroes. But do these warriors exhibit symptoms of trauma stemming from their constant exposure to violence?

54th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, May 9-12, 2019

Loving your Arms (Before the NRA): Heroes and Their Weapons

Sponsored by the Société Rencesvals, American-Canadian Branch

Organized by Rebeca Castellanos (Grand Valley State University)

More than Marvel: Representations of Norse Mythology in Contemporary Popular Culture

Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

54th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

9-12 May 2019

Proposals due by 15 September 2018

MEARCSTAPA

Call for Papers

MEARCSTAPA (Monsters: The Experimental Association for the Research of Cryptozoology through Scholarly Theory and Practical Application) invites papers on any topic of Monsters/Monster theory, or the Supernatural/Uncanny for a special issue of the journal Preternature(PSU Press). The special issue will celebrate MEARCSTAPA’s tenth anniversary as an academic society dedicated to the study of the monstrous.

For a proposed panel at the annual meeting of the Renaissance Society of America 2019 (Toronto, 17 -19 March): I am seeking papers on early modern printers. Our modern sense of publishers as (more often than not) merely profiting from the creative agency of authors obscures the meaningful role early printers had in cultural production, politics (conservative and radical), the reception of major works, and the establishment of a public sphere. Printers sometimes simply sought sales, but they also often specialized and promoted particular agendas.