Bristol University, Centre of Medieval Studies Postgraduate Conference, 3-4th March 2017.

Past Futures: Temporality and Space in the Middle Ages

Call for Papers - Extended Deadline: 31st January

This is a call for papers for a two-day interdisciplinary postgraduate conference on behalf of Bristol University’s Centre of Medieval Studies on the theme ‘Past Futures: Temporality and Space in the Middle Ages’, 3rd-4th March 2017.

The prologue to John Gower’s Confessio Amantis reads “men se the world on every syde, in sondry wyse so diversed, that it well nyh shant al reversed, as for to speke of tyme ago” illustrating time as non-linear and omnipresent. The value of the written word has allowed us to see the past and present simultaneously, but what about the future? Gower suggests a reflective look on past material, “so that it myhte in such a wyse, when we ben dede and elleswhere, beleve to the worldes erre”. Whereas Thomas Aquinas defines the virtue of prudence as “praecipue est futuroum” [chiefly about the future] offering a similarly moral, yet spiritual implication of ‘looking towards the future’.

Prospective speakers are invited to submit abstracts of 300 words for 20-minute presentations that engage with medieval concepts of time, space, and the future. Papers may include, but are not limited to the following topics:

• Medieval concepts / narratives of the future
• Science-fiction for the Middle Ages
• Eschatological future
• Queer time and spaces
• Non-linear time and liminality
• Prediction and forecast
• Medievalism in post-medieval depictions of the future
• Visions of development and technology 

Abstracts and queries to be submitted to:

Jade Godsall: jg16184@bristol.ac.uk

Mary Bateman: mb16182@bristol.ac.uk

We look forward to seeing you there!