CfP: Resuscitation, Reanimation, and the Modern World. Oxford, 5-6 October 2018
Resuscitation, Reanimation, and the Modern World. 5-6 October 2018. Maison Française d’Oxford
Drag the pale victim from the whelming wave,
And snatch the body from the floating grave;
Breathe in the lips re-animating fire,
Till, warm’d to second life, the drown’d respire.
The emergence of societies ‘for the recovery of persons apparently
drowned’ within Europe —Amsterdam 1767, Paris 1772, London 1774 —
institutionalized a shift in the 18th century, whereby
different groups in society became involved with a common
concern. The act of resuscitation took on social as well as medical
significance: medals were awarded to bystanders who leapt into rivers to
save hapless swimmers; attendants were stationed at the edge of
hazardous boating lakes; and a variety of life-saving
tools were touted to a burgeoning consumer society. These endeavours
drew upon broader understandings of breath, air, and the functions of
bodies, and also held the potential for spiritual transformation by
making bodily ‘resurrection’ a real possibility.
Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), this workshop seeks to explore
the social, cultural, political, and medical
aspects of reanimation and resuscitation from the early modern period to
the present. We will consider how these phenomena have been understood –
as miraculous moments, displays of medical
prowess, and manifestations of civic responsibility. We will ask if
they represent a profound shift regarding ideas about the origin of life
as well as its value, connected to the development of a society of risk
management. We will also explore how these
practices have developed through time in literary, popular, and medical
narratives,
as new technologies both ‘medicalised’ resuscitation and
extended its practice beyond the medical arena. In this way, we hope to
gain insight not only into the development and dissemination of medical
knowledge but also into broader cultural issues
– citizenship, duty, and changing perceptions of what it means to be
human.
We ask participants to submit proposals for papers of 20 minutes in
length, covering any aspect of reanimation or resuscitation from the
early modern period onwards. Possible themes or topics might include:
- How these practices affected contemporary attitudes towards life and death
- Resuscitation/reanimation and the uncanny body
- Resuscitation/reanimation as a spiritual experience
- Literary depictions of resuscitation/reanimation
- Resuscitation technologies, from bellows to electrical stimulation of the heart
- The use of humans and animals in the development of resuscitation techniques
- The role of the bystander and notions of civic responsibility
- First Aid training and the spread of medical knowledge and practices
- Risky locations – from lakes and rivers to the emergency room
Please submit a title, abstract of up to 250 words, and brief biography, to
marie-aline.thebaud-sorger@