The Prosthetic Impulse in the Middle Ages: Metaphor, Materiality, and the Promise of the (Post)human
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Special Session
Organizer Name
Agatha Hansen
Organizer Affiliation
Queen's Univ. Kingston
Presider Name
Will Eggers
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Hartford
Paper Title 1
Saint Melor's Shameful Part: Prosthesis in the Life of Saint Melor
Presenter 1 Name
Agatha Hansen
Paper Title 2
Crip Christianity: Trauma, Ministry, and Narrative as Prosthesis
Presenter 2 Name
M. W. Bychowski
Presenter 2 Affiliation
George Washington Univ.
Paper Title 3
Posthuman Lear: Progymnasmata as Prosthesis
Presenter 3 Name
Craig Dionne
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Eastern Michigan Univ.
Paper Title 4
Respondent
Presenter 4 Name
Tory Vandeventer Pearman
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Miami Univ. Hamilton
Start Date
10-5-2013 3:30 PM
Session Location
Valley I 104
Description
The title this panel alludes to the recent publication edited by Marquard Smith and Joanne Morra, The Prosthetic Impulse, which probes the topic of prosthesis in all of its possible manifestations. In its most basic sense, prosthesis implies both word and body, but the term extends beyond the relatively straightforward understanding of human-machine coupling; the function of prosthetics, as generally accepted by contemporary prosthesis theorists, is to mediate between perceived binary relations—body and machine, nature and civilization, the conscious and subconscious, self and other, and man and God. “The Prosthetic Impulse in the Middle Ages” will seek to explore those points of contact and encounters with distinctly medieval material, metaphorical, and figural prosthesis, and modify Smith and Morra’s observation that “the promise of ‘posthuman’ thought can already be found in the human” (7): the promise of the posthuman can already be found in the medieval body. Although prosthesis might point to the early modern period as its earliest reference, recent studies suggest that such an assumption is simply not substantiated. One can and should speak of prosthesis and prosthetics in the Middle Ages, and such a panel hopes to encourage its discussion in both the field of Disability in the Middle Ages, and studies of the medieval body, more generally.
The Prosthetic Impulse in the Middle Ages: Metaphor, Materiality, and the Promise of the (Post)human
Valley I 104
The title this panel alludes to the recent publication edited by Marquard Smith and Joanne Morra, The Prosthetic Impulse, which probes the topic of prosthesis in all of its possible manifestations. In its most basic sense, prosthesis implies both word and body, but the term extends beyond the relatively straightforward understanding of human-machine coupling; the function of prosthetics, as generally accepted by contemporary prosthesis theorists, is to mediate between perceived binary relations—body and machine, nature and civilization, the conscious and subconscious, self and other, and man and God. “The Prosthetic Impulse in the Middle Ages” will seek to explore those points of contact and encounters with distinctly medieval material, metaphorical, and figural prosthesis, and modify Smith and Morra’s observation that “the promise of ‘posthuman’ thought can already be found in the human” (7): the promise of the posthuman can already be found in the medieval body. Although prosthesis might point to the early modern period as its earliest reference, recent studies suggest that such an assumption is simply not substantiated. One can and should speak of prosthesis and prosthetics in the Middle Ages, and such a panel hopes to encourage its discussion in both the field of Disability in the Middle Ages, and studies of the medieval body, more generally.