British Shakespeare Association Biennial Conference 2005
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Programme : Panels - Seminars - Workshops
Seminar - "And now I give my sensual race the rein":
Shakespeare and Sensuality
Saturday 3rd September 2005, 11.30am-1.00pm,
Bedson Teaching Centre LG35
Participants | Call for Papers
Participants
Convenor - Anja Müller-Wood,
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier,Universitaet Potsdam
Nick Blackburn, Cambridge University
Ross King, Queen Mary University
Dr. Eric Langley, University of York
Eve-Marie Oesterlen
Prof. Hillary Fogerty, Mercyhurst College
Call for Papers
Below is the original Call for Papers, as circulated. Please note that the date for submissions has passed and the successful participants are listed above.
Convenors: Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier (Potsdam University) and Anja Müller-Wood (Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz)
Despite all the "body talk" in literary studies at present, the critical discussion remains curiously disinterested in the topic of sensuality. While considerable work has been done on the relationship between the body and power, the body is rarely seen in terms of pleasure. Although the Renaissance's view of sensuality may seem to support these critical tendencies, the exclusion of feelings in the critical debate around the body (and, in turn, the exclusion of the body in the critical debate around the emotions) testifies to a distinctly one-sided take on the Renaissance image of world and self. We think that to shape a more integrated image of the early modern period and, indeed, the work of Shakespeare, it is time to begin a joint exploration of body and emotions – in short, of sensuality.
The leading questions which this seminar wishes to address are: was there a typical early modern sensuality and if so, what are its modes of expression in Shakespeare's works? Our hypothesis is that sensuality emerges in performance: in the representation of the material through imagery, language and action. Sensuality is present not only in thematic references, but also, simultaneously, in speech and movement. Narrative voices in the poems as well as characters in the plays express combined mental, physical, and emotional perceptions. Musical entertainment, dress, food, hunting or fighting, among others, are sensual experiences that can evoke both pleasure and terror. To do justice to the complex nature of Shakespeare's sensuality, contributions to this seminar should explore the topic from the joint perspective that we have described.
Please see our website: http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Philologie-II/fb1414/wood/projects.html
Contact: Stefani Brusberg-Kiermeier (brusberg@rz.uni-potsdam.de)
and Anja Müller-Wood (wood@uni-mainz.de)
