Hell Studies: Hellish Remixes

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, 11-14 May 2017

Remix Studies is a nascent but fast-growing field. Just last year Routledge published its first critical companion to Remix Studies, and interest in the field -- which critically examines the relationships of sources and analogues, as well as the production and reproduction of texts -- is steadily growing. That said, to this point very little attempt has been made to apply this theory to the study of medieval materials. This session proposes to jump-start the discourse of Remix Studies in a medieval context by providing a venue for discussion.

To that end the Societas Daemonetica invites proposals for fifteen- to twenty-minute papers that explore different ways in which the idea of the Remix, broadly interpreted, may be applied to the study of Hell, devils, and the damned. Topics might include the development of stories of Hell over a given period of time, the ever-changing descriptions and depictions of the Devil, or even readings of hell-related texts as remixes of other, earlier related texts. Proposals from all disciplines will be considered.

Interested parties should submit a 250-word abstract and completed Participant Information Form (https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) to societas.daemonetica@gmail.com no later than September 15.

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Monsters II: Immaterial Monsters

International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, 11-14 May 2017

Co-sponsored by MEARCSTAPA (Monsters: the Experimental Association for the Research of Cryptozoology through Scholarly Theory And Practical Application) and the Societas Daemonetica

The recent scholarly turn towards greater consideration of the material culture of the Middle Ages paradoxically also draws attention back to the places where materiality is strikingly absent. Monsters are often seen by medieval and modern commentators as inextricably linked with their embodiment, and yet are frequently insubstantial. Whether referring to invisible and intangible ghostly visitors from purgatory and other members of the ethereal undead, the borrowed tangibility of the demonically possessed, nigh-visiting succubi and incubi, or the displacement of the monstrous to the geographical margins in maps and stories, the disturbing presence of monstrosity’s physical absence leaves its traces throughout the Middle Ages and demands our present attention.

This session seeks answers to the question this raises: how can something so absent and immaterial nevertheless possess agency, influencing individuals and cultures? To this end, the co-sponsors MEARCSTAPA and Societas Daemonetica inviteproposals for fifteen- to twenty-minute papers from any discipline that analyze and interpret immaterial monsters and monstrosity in medieval texts and contexts. Papers may examine any aspect of the topic (broadly conceived), including but not limited to the immaterial, absent, or displaced monster in literature, art, history, theology or any combination thereof.

Interested parties should submit a 250-word abstract and completed Participant Information Form (https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) to societas.daemonetica@gmail.com no later than September 15.

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For further inquiries about either session, please contact Richard Ford Burley at societas.daemonetica@gmail.com.