Zoom symposium, the Department of English, Tübingen University
From John Gower’s account of Robert Grosseteste’s construction of a talking head to George Herbert’s depiction of the heart as a place for divine encounters; from Ben Jonson’s pride in his literary offspring to Victor Frankenstein’s horrified reaction to the physical reality of his own creation, creativity has long been thought of in bodily terms. Imagery centred on the human body – and, frequently, on its procreative propensities – serves to configure the relationship between creator and creation or to describe interpersonal exchange and mutual dependence; bodily metaphors are useful both in celebrating human achievements and castigating Promethean pride and solipsistic self-involvement.
Our workshop aims at collecting and discussing medieval and post-medieval examples of creative metaphors which draw on the corporeal and to consider their communicative functions and ideological implications. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop will be held virtually on Zoom.
We invite abstracts from all researchers interested in conceptualisations of human creativity and/or ability, especially – but not exclusively – as they relate to (notions of) the corporeal.
Website: https://sway.office.com/Eglo3emT1vkA3huE
For more information, please contact sarah-jane.briest@uni-tuebingen.de
