Cornucopia

MOR VAN DASHORST, Anthonis
Guillaume d'Orange
1555
Oil on panel, 107 x 62 cm
Staatliche Museen, Kassel 'source : WGA)

The formation of the Modern State witnessed a reinforcement of control over the public sphere. Religion and politics sought to impose well-codified social norms and patterns of behaviour against a background of profound turmoil manifested by various forms of disobedience and dissent among both the ruling and the lower classes.

From Flanders to Italy, passing by the German lands, the Thirty Years’ War, a great ‘media event’, contributed to the process of destabilisation with the massive circulation of people, ideas and works of art and literature. The resultant fruitful tension gave rise to new literary and artistic forms (the Picaresque genre for one) challenging basic concepts of social hierarchy, identity, gender and stereotyped beauty.

The panel invites papers exploring the connections and tensions between visual and literary forms reflecting the political, social and religious turmoil in Early Modern Europe.

Topics of interest include:

• Diffusion of liminal or heterodox devotional images created by lower classes paralleled in contemporary texts
• Clothing as a means of identity disguise to challenge social rules (‘cross-dressing’)
• Emergence of female and lower-born characters within the Picaresque genre and in the context of the Thirty Years’ War
• The birth of the ‘mock hero’, a low-life character enacting epic narratives for comic effect
• Celebration of the ugly and grotesque rather than traditional standards of beauty

Proposals should include:

• Presenter’s name
• Academic affiliation (if appropriate)
• Email address
• Paper title (15 Words maximum)
• Abstract (150 Words maximum) + 3-5 Keywords
• PhD completion date (if appropriate)
• CV (200 Words maximum)

Proposals by 28st July 2019 to Carlo Avilio (carloavilio@gmail.com) and Silvia Mostaccio (silvia.mostaccio@uclouvain.be)