CFP: Visualizing Ovid in the Middle Ages

The Societas Ovidiana is soliciting abstracts for 15-20 minute papers to be presented at the 50th International Congress for Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI from May 14-17, 2015. This year we are sponsoring two sessions on the single theme “Visualizing Ovid in the Middle Ages.”

While scholarship on medieval Ovidian reception has focused primarily on the textual reception of the poet's works in various medieval literary cultures, Ovid's influence far exceeded the written word. Whether in manuscript illumination, tapestry, ceramics, sculpture, theatre, or even imaginative ekphrasis in prose and verse adaptations and translations, Ovidian scenes of myth, love, and exile were presented before the eyes of innumerable medieval spectators. For the 50th Congress, the Societas Ovidiana is excited to sponsor two unique, interdisciplinary panels, which will explore how Ovid's poetry was interpreted into the manifold visual cultures of the Middle Ages.

We are hoping to bring together scholars from the fields of art history, literature, theatre, and archaeology to showcase the rich and multiform images of the Medieval Ovid. And to lend coherence to the resulting discussion period, we are encouraging presenters to consider either (1) to what extent visual representations of Ovidiana in the Middle Ages coincided with the dominant interpretative frameworks identified by recent scholarship on medieval commentaries and translations of Ovid's works, or (2) whether these visualized conceptions represent completely separate, and perhaps even more pervasive, interpretations of his poems.

Please send proposals of 300-500 words with a working title and department affiliation by September 15, 2014. Participants will be contacted shortly thereafter regarding whether or not their proposals have been accepted. All proposals which are received but not accepted will be sent on to the Congress’ general committee for consideration in one of the general sessions. 

Submissions should be sent to:

Morris Tichenor
Centre for Medieval Studies
University of Toronto
m.tichenor@utoronto.ca

The Societas Ovidiana are a loosely-affiliated group who meet once a year at Kalamazoo to provide a forum for interdisciplinary discussion of the influence of classical authors, especially Ovid, during the Middle Ages.