Experiencing the material body in early modern Europe

Stockholm University, October 7-9, 2020

Key note speakers: Sasha Handley (Manchester), Craig Koslofsky (Illinois), and Maren Lorenz (Ruhr Universität Bochum)

From whereever we look, it seems that early modern people’s bodies were under significant pressure from outward influences, as well as from their own ambitions to control them. Using approaches like embodiment, performance, sensory and cognitive history, history of emotions, material culture and history of medicine, cholars have investigated various forms of corporeal experience. This workshop seeks to bring together these interlinked fields to relfect upon the lived-in body in early modern Europe.

We aim to draw together research from various fields to consider the status of the material body in relation to its surroundings, to gauge the significance of the various ways it was influenced externally and internally, and to better understand how early modern people of different gender, class, religion and ethnicity understood their bodies to work. the workshop will engage with the body in a wide range of contexts, from the profound relationships between the macro- and microcosms, to everyday experiences like work, eating and sex. We will consider the body as willed and cultivated, but also highlight the body’s vulnerabilities and propensity to sometimes to unforeseen things.

The workshop welcomes proposals from early career researchers as well as senior scholars. Abstracts of max. 250 words are are invited for 20 minute papers. Send together with short CV to: matbod@historia.su.se. Deadline for proposals: March 31, 2020. All costs for travel and accomodation will be covered for presenters.