Call for Papers

Prometheus's Creatures and Creators:
Sources and migrations of a myth in the arts and literature.

International Conference
14 - 15 March 2008
Nancy-Université, Université Nancy 2, France

The Research Groups I.D.E.A. ("Interdisciplinarité dans les études
Anglophones"), Nancy-Université, and ECRITURES, Université Paul Verlaine -
Metz, are announcing a call for papers for its international conference on
the theme: "Prometheus's Creatures and Creators: Sources and migrations of a
myth in the arts and literature."

The different readings of the myth of Prometheus centre around
two main poles. The first one presents Prometheus as a godlike figure who
can "control fire," whereas the second presents him as a sorcerer's
apprentice who "plays with fire". From the Renaissance to the 20th century,
the arts and literature have adopted these apparently irreconcilable
approaches to the myth. During the Renaissance, philosophers (Bacon,
Erasmus, etc.) gave different interpretations of a myth which was the basis
of a common allegorical culture for poets (Spenser, Ronsard, etc.) and other
artists and musicians of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries (The Lord Masque
of Thomas Campion may serve as an illustration of this). In the 19th and
20th centuries, the myth is to be found in music (Beethoven, Parry,
Scriabin, Libby Larsen, etc.), in literature (Shelley, Tony Harrison, etc.)
and in the plastic arts (J. S. Sargent, Lipchitz, etc.).

Different aspects of the myth of Prometheus have already been
dealt with in books or colloquiums. This conference aims to tackle an aspect
which has been studied and commented upon less than the other aspects: the
representations of the myth of Prometheus and their evolution through time
and space. Papers will analyse the adaptation, extension and diffusion of
the representations of the myth in the arts and literature.
Interdisciplinary and comparative approaches, be they diachronic or generic,
will be especially appreciated. Papers which probe the predominance and
representations of the myth in some particular genre(s) would fit perfectly
with our area of interest. Though the emphasis of the conference will be on
papers focussing on the English-speaking world, papers stressing the
manifestations of the myth in other parts of the world (Germany, Italy,
etc.) will also be welcome in as much as they, directly or indirectly, shed
light on the influence that a given reading of the myth has/had on the
English-speaking writers, composers, painters and sculptors who deal/dealt
with the myth of Prometheus.

Half-hour presentations can be given in English or in French. A
selection of papers fitting perfectly with our area of interest will be
published in "Regards croisés sur le monde Anglophone," by the Presses
Universitaires de Nancy. Please send your proposals (title and 250-word
abstract) with a brief curriculum vitae (1 page) to Claudine Armand
(Claudine.Armand_at_univ-nancy2.fr) and Jean-Philippe Heberlé
(Jean-Philippe.Heberle_at_univ-nancy2.fr)
before 30 June 2007.

Organizing committee:

Claudine Armand
Claire Bardelmann
Pierre Degott
Jean-Philippe Heberlé
Rachel Hutchins-Viroux
Françoise Mathieu-Arth

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Received on Mon Feb 12 2007 - 05:22:45 EST