Shakespeare and Early Modern Emotion
An International and Interdisciplinary Conference
29 June – 1 July 2011
The Andrew Marvell Centre, The University of Hull
This conference will explore the performance and representation of emotion in the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. In the last decade, scholars have been increasingly interested in the cultural history of emotions, arguing that they should be regarded as ‘social phenomena’ rather than inward experiences. At the same time, we have seen a resurgence of interest in the ethical and philosophical aspects of literary texts, and a return to thinking about ideas of ‘human nature’.
How did Shakespeare and his contemporaries respond to and/or shape early modern conceptions of emotion? How do early modern plays and poems speak to current debates about emotion, culture, and what it is to be human? Do early modern texts suggest that emotions are bound up with language and culture, or can we make a case for emotions as a transhistorical or even ‘universal’ category?
A broad range of papers are invited, but possible topics might include: the history of medicine and/or the body; the language of emotion; early modern rhetorical culture; discussions of emotion in classical and/or Renaissance literary criticism; emotions on the stage; antitheatrical anxieties; emotion and disease; emotional contagion and mimicry; sympathy and empathy; the cultural significance of tears, laughter, etc.; theories of tragedy; cognitive and social neuroscientific approaches to emotion.
Confirmed keynote speakers include:
Neil Rhodes (St Andrews)
Andy Mousley (De Montfort)
John Lee (Bristol)
Abstracts (no more than 150 words) for 20 minute papers should be sent to Richard Meek r.meek@hull.ac.uk by 1 March 2011.
