Call for Papers: Nineteenth-Century Aetiologies, Exoticism, and Multimodal Aesthetics
Call for Papers: Nineteenth-Century Aetiologies,
Exoticism, and Multimodal Aesthetics
2-4 April 2013 University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Of illness and exotic curatives, one hardly escapes
solidago odora, ass’s milk, juice of millipedes, senna, horse dung, and snake
oil. Medical narratives during the nineteenth century manifest somewhat
irreconcilable cross-modalities of enthusiasm and fear with ‘otherness’.
Drawing inspiration from early Greek philosophy, the post-Enlightenment art
flourished with a focus on various modes of otherness; debating determinism,
slavery, forgiveness, and nationalism while bringing together concepts that
play major roles in our contemporary pedagogical approaches.
Though it is not often emphasized, modes of eroticism in
prose, poetry, and painting, whether of metaphorical or mythological
conceptualisation, communicate certain entanglements with ‘otherness’. Given that
today, multimodal normativity in aesthetics has moved in part a considerable
distance from the concept of individualism, but not necessarily from egotism,
how can it be read on account of mere ‘embodiment’?
Multimodality, then, having been acclaimed with much
achievement in current scholarship of literature and linguistics, is indebted
to a prominent array of historical theories and practices mainly expanding on
historiographies of otherness and aetiology.
How can ‘otherness’ be configured in multimodal
aesthetics today, compared with the aftermath of the Enlightenment? Take for
instance “our” entrance into a visual exhibition displaying the portrait of St
Damien of Molokai
(1840-1889) and a quote, famously by Leucippus (c. 5th
Century BCE):
“οὐδὲν χρῆμα μάτην γίνεται, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐκ λόγου τε καὶ ὑπ’
ἀνάγκης (Nothing happens at random, but everything from rational principle and
of necessity)”. What happens here―one may claim at any given time―tends part of
its semiotic bearing to hermeneutic consistency in order to be meaningful. How
can we discuss the workings of ethics in this example? How does ‘otherness’
configure the contextual and conceptual aesthetics of aetiology?
In recent years, research into aesthetics and modality
has often closely edged towards semantic drifts. Through systematic attempts,
for example, multimodality has come to attach mind and body in the contemporary
understanding of cognition and stylistics, at the expense of ignoring
historiography and by means of re-phrasing definitions of ‘embodiment’, as if
bending over to cultural studies. Given this realisation, in which contextual
paradigm do iconography and tonality of exoticism and multimodality unfold?
What is the locus of agency in contemporary reception of multimodal aesthetics
but also within the historical context of the nineteenth century? Is
‘otherness’ historically in favour of/at odds with aesthetic racialization?
What is the position of authenticity and otherness in socio- and
psycholinguistic studies?
Philosophy, anthropology, literature, art history,
psychology, music, medical humanities, and linguistics scholars are welcome to
participate.
The conference will expand on representations of
otherness considering the following and other relevant themes:
Multimodality in perspective: word-image aetiologies
Musical exoticism and nationalism, tonalité moderne Mind/brain/body relations,
embodied cognition The exotic pharmacy after the Enlightenment Masculine tropes
of otherness Feminine as exotic, female as aetiology Artefacts as modes of
aetiology Aetiology, illness, and idealism Ethics and aesthetic racialization
Narrative, egotism, individualism, and the multimodal “I”
Architecture and sculptures of difference Colour,
texture, and shape in meaning Orientalism, historicism, and exotic icons Haptic
perception, emotional stimulation Medical consumerism and exotic conceptions
Sensational consciousness, spatial indifference Exoticism and
nineteenth-century moralists Courage-exoticism, Romantic rarity Insanity, hard
and soft determinism
Workshops:
1- Iconography, Cross-Modality, and the Body
This workshop addresses a new perspective into modalities
and intersections, particularly in relation to the workings of ‘bodies’ in
iconography. Nineteenth-century iconography and its various aspects including
its contemporary reception will be put into discussion.
2- Representations of Otherness and Beauty
This session invites research into the gendering of
aesthetics and aesthetic racialization. Social semiotics and pedagogical
approaches will be explored. Methodologies and the practice of
nineteenth-century otherness and beauty will be explored.
Participation:
To submit individual proposals for 20-minute papers +
CV/Biog. note, and for panel proposals of up to three papers, each 20 minutes,
email:
painpara@liv.ac.uk
Deadline is 30 December 2012. Two postgraduate bursaries will be available,
memorial of Dr Wasfia Mhabak. Discounted registration fees will be available to
members of Embodiments Project Series. A selection of presentations will be
considered for publication as
2013 special issue of the International Journal of
Literature and
Psychology: http://literatureandpsychology.liv.ac.uk