Latin Homoerotics in the Central Middle Ages (ca. 950-1250)

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Mediaevalia: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Medieval Studies Worldwide

Organizer Name

Tina Chronopoulos

Organizer Affiliation

Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Binghamton Univ.

Presider Name

Tina Chronopoulos

Paper Title 1

Female Homoeroticism in Hrotsvit of Gandersheim and Elizabeth of Schönau

Presenter 1 Name

Colleen Butler

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Centre for Medieval Studies, Univ. of Toronto

Paper Title 2

Loving Men Then and Now: Reading Juvenal in the Twelfth-Century Classroom

Presenter 2 Name

Emily Blakelock

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Centre for Medieval Studies, Univ. of Toronto

Paper Title 3

Toward a History of the Reception of Homosexuality in Commentaries: The Case of the Scholia in Ibin

Presenter 3 Name

Pierluigi Gatti

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Columbia Univ.

Start Date

10-5-2014 3:30 PM

Session Location

Schneider 2355

Description

Homoerotic situations and desire in Latin texts in the Central Middle Ages have traditionally been approached through, for example, the poetry and letters of authors such as Marbod of Rennes or Baudri of Bourgueil, or Alan of Lille's De Planctu Naturae. It is clear that, particularly in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, there existed a discourse that included situations and desire that can be described as homoerotic. However, the bulk of the scholarly engagement with homoeroticism has been with texts written in the vernacular languages.

This panel seeks to shift the focus of enquiry from the vernacular to Latin texts produced in this period in order to broaden the conversation to include different types of genres (devotional texts, epics, historical narratives, letters, etc.) and to extend the geographical reach beyond the confines of France and England to the German Empire, the Iberian Peninsula, and beyond. The session is also designed to deepen our understanding of how homoerotic situations operated in Latin texts of this period and to explore how theories of gender and sexuality can be applied to them. The focus on Latin texts will allow us to discern more clearly how women and men in various contexts expressed homoerotic desires and how, if at all, these authors were in conversation with each other or earlier traditions of homoeroticism, if such traditions can be said to have existed.

Tina Chronopoulos

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May 10th, 3:30 PM

Latin Homoerotics in the Central Middle Ages (ca. 950-1250)

Schneider 2355

Homoerotic situations and desire in Latin texts in the Central Middle Ages have traditionally been approached through, for example, the poetry and letters of authors such as Marbod of Rennes or Baudri of Bourgueil, or Alan of Lille's De Planctu Naturae. It is clear that, particularly in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, there existed a discourse that included situations and desire that can be described as homoerotic. However, the bulk of the scholarly engagement with homoeroticism has been with texts written in the vernacular languages.

This panel seeks to shift the focus of enquiry from the vernacular to Latin texts produced in this period in order to broaden the conversation to include different types of genres (devotional texts, epics, historical narratives, letters, etc.) and to extend the geographical reach beyond the confines of France and England to the German Empire, the Iberian Peninsula, and beyond. The session is also designed to deepen our understanding of how homoerotic situations operated in Latin texts of this period and to explore how theories of gender and sexuality can be applied to them. The focus on Latin texts will allow us to discern more clearly how women and men in various contexts expressed homoerotic desires and how, if at all, these authors were in conversation with each other or earlier traditions of homoeroticism, if such traditions can be said to have existed.

Tina Chronopoulos