TEMA Conference panel: Monstrous Women in the Middle Ages (Oct 3-4, 2014)
full name / name of organization: MEARCSTAPA–monsters: the experimental association of rate research of cryptozoology through scholarly theory and practical application
contact email: [email protected]
In Nomadic Subjects (1994), Rosi Braidotti wrote: “Woman, as sign of difference, is monstrous.” In the medieval world, a similar notion was explored in multiple medieval cultures by works—visual, verbal, and performative—that assert the exceptionality of female bodies, communities, and practices against a male norm. In line with this year’s Texas Medieval Association (TEMA) theme “Interdisciplinarity in the Age of Relevance,” MEARCSTAPA invites papers that focus upon the instances in which women are presented as either literal or figurative monsters, as found in images or texts from medieval Europe and contiguous cultures in Africa and Asia. We seek to explore, in particular, how the conjunction of gender and monstrosity introduced issues of sexualization, exoticism, or vilification revealing of larger societal anxieties. By bringing together cases from multiple disciplines, time frames, and geographies, this panel aims to provide a more global view of monstrous women and the issues that surround them.
Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words, with a brief bio, to [email protected] by September 1, 2014.
For more information on TEMA (Texas Medieval Association), see http://www.texasmedieval.org/
For more information on MEARCSTAPA, see http://www.mearcstapa.org/wp/