This is just a reminder that the due date for paper proposals for the Societas Daemonetica's 2014 ICMS in Kalamazoo, Michigan is SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH.
The full call for papers is below.
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The Societas Daemonetica is seeking papers for the session “Hell Studies”, which will take place at the 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 8-11, 2014, in Kalamazoo, Michigan (USA).
The suggested theme for this year's Hell Studies session is “Jailbreaking Hell,” and focuses on its often porous border, those who cross it, by what means, and for what ends.
From hauntings to Hell-mouths to the Harrowing, the ranks of those who saw the inside of Hell and returned to Earth to tell about it swelled throughout the Middle Ages. In the Anglo-Saxon period the Devil was at once banished to Hell and simultaneously active in the world. If he was cast down with the angels, how could he then appear in Eden to precipitate the Fall of Man, or in the desert thousands of years later to tempt Christ to sin? How permanent was it meant to be when, in the Gospel of Nicodemus, Christ cast the terrified Devil, bound and gagged, into the mouth of an anthropomorphized Hell – especially in light of the fact that he then immediately freed the pre-Christian fathers in the Harrowing? Even tormented pagans, doomed to an eternity in Hell, sometimes climbed to the surface at night to warn would-be sinners away from their mistakes. Who were their wardens, what were their routes, and how was their return guaranteed?
For this year's session, we are asking about the boundaries of Hell itself, as well as those figures who pass through (and around) its gates, in literature, theatre, theology, and art. What can be learned about the medieval people interacting with these representations and ideas, and in addition what can these theories and portrayals tell us about ourselves as their inheritors?
As mentioned above, “Jailbreaking Hell” is this year's suggested theme. Submissions need not unnaturally restrict themselves to the theme, but preference may be given to those that comment upon or substantially interact with it.
Please send polite proposals of no more than 300 words to Richard Burley at societas.daemonetica@gmail.com by September 15, 2013.
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Richard Burley
North American Co-ordinator
Societas Daemonetica
Friday, September 13, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
The Act of Killing and Hell
I
just wanted to post a quick note here regarding a remarkable and very troubling
film which has just been released in the US. The quick IMDB synopsis:
A documentary that
challenges former Indonesian death squad leaders to re-enact their real-life
mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic
Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375605/
I
had the chance to see The Act of Killing
at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, and as I watched it I
kept returning to the idea of Hell. In particular, the film’s use of re-enactment
rang a lot of bells in my mind. Like the demonic theatre in the “Vision of
Thurkill” the stylized re-imaginings of past atrocities in the film served as
both punishment for the guilty and also as an object lesson for the viewer. This
punishment, however, only really seems to “work” for one of the murderers at
the heart of the film: Anwar Congo. I kept returning in my mind to Origen’s
idea of Hell in which the mind is tormented by the conscience, or Eriugena’s “Origenist”
assertion that the torment of Hell is really the persistence in the mind of the
images of things that have been perversely loved. Anwar Congo’s slow awakening
to his own culpability through cinematic re-enactment seemed to me to be a slow
realization that he is in fact trapped in a Hell of his own making. The
stylized portrayals of his past violence appeared to me as an externalization
of the images present in his mind. Central to his final realization is the role
of the cinematographer as tormentor. The movie’s director, Joshua Oppenheimer,
coxes the guilt out of Anwar as his subject and the viewer can’t help but feel
both righteous satisfaction as Anwar crumbles as well as some measure of sympathy.
I think that seeing this film has many of the same effects on a modern audience
as stories of visionary journeys to the Other World had on a medieval audience.
The convergence of atrocity, cinematography, and memory seemed to me to be very
medieval.
Links
with more information and reactions to the film:
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
2014 Kalamazoo Call for Papers
Here it is, the call for papers for next year's session. We are all looking forward to the submissions.
Call For Papers: Hell Studies
The Societas Daemonetica is seeking papers
for the session “Hell Studies”, which will take place at the 49th
International Congress on Medieval Studies, May 8-11, 2014, in Kalamazoo,
Michigan (USA).
The
suggested theme for this year's Hell Studies session is “Jailbreaking Hell,”
and focuses on its often porous border, those who cross it, by what means, and
for what ends.
From
hauntings to Hell-mouths to the Harrowing, the ranks of those who saw the
inside of Hell and returned to Earth to tell about it swelled throughout the Middle
Ages. In the Anglo-Saxon period the Devil was at once banished to Hell and
simultaneously active in the world. If he was cast down with the angels, how
could he then appear in Eden to precipitate the Fall of Man, or in the desert
thousands of years later to tempt Christ to sin? How permanent was it meant to
be when, in the Gospel of Nicodemus, Christ cast the terrified Devil, bound and
gagged, into the mouth of an anthropomorphized Hell – especially in light of
the fact that he then immediately freed the pre-Christian fathers in the
Harrowing? Even tormented pagans, doomed to an eternity in Hell, sometimes
climbed to the surface at night to warn would-be sinners away from their
mistakes. Who were their wardens, what were their routes, and how was their
return guaranteed?
For this
year's session, we are asking about the boundaries of Hell itself, as well as
those figures who pass through (and around) its gates, in literature, theatre,
theology, and art. What can be learned about the medieval people interacting
with these representations and ideas, and in addition what can these theories
and portrayals tell us about ourselves as their inheritors?
As mentioned above, “Jailbreaking Hell” is
this year's suggested theme. Submissions need not unnaturally restrict
themselves to the theme, but preference may be given to those that comment upon
or substantially interact with it.
Please send polite proposals of no more
than 300 words to Richard Burley at societas.daemonetica@gmail.com
by September 15, 2014. Early submissions are appreciated.
Richard Burley
North American Co-ordinator
Societas Daemonetica
Glad to Join the Team
I'd like to take a moment to introduce myself on the blog before we post the CFP for 2014. I'm honoured to be asked to join the organizational team along with Richard and Nicole for the coming year, and I'm looking forward to growing the society and this blog in the months to come. Please check back in for new developments and posts.
Friday, May 31, 2013
2013 Update / Welcome to the team
This year at Kalamazoo, our sponsored session "Encountering Evil in the Medieval World" was a success, and was welcomed by some familiar faces -- both in the panel and in the audience. For next year, we are hoping to return to our roots with "Hell Studies" once again, and are welcoming two-time presenter Michael Barbezat (University of Toronto) to the organizational team. Watch this space for further updates in 2013 and beyond!
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