Narrative Geographies of Medieval Architecture I: Movement in Space

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Special Session

Organizer Name

Gillian B. Elliott

Organizer Affiliation

Independent Scholar

Presider Name

Gillian B. Elliott

Paper Title 1

La tour-porche de Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire: L'image comme révélatrice des axes de circulation et manifeste d'un discours contemporain sur la société

Presenter 1 Name

Barbara Franzé

Presenter 1 Affiliation

Univ. de Lausanne

Paper Title 2

Stories in the Door: The Portal at Le Mans Cathedral as a Processional Objective

Presenter 2 Name

Susan L. Ward

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Rhode Island School of Design

Paper Title 3

Cage Chantries and Geography of English Medieval Church

Presenter 3 Name

Cindy Wood

Presenter 3 Affiliation

Univ. of Winchester

Start Date

11-5-2018 1:30 PM

Session Location

Schneider 2335

Description

These two sessions will explore the agency of movement within the built environment across Europe and the Mediterranean in the period 1000-1450. We seek to consider how individuals and/or social groups generated narratives of meaning derived from where and how they traversed space. Meaning could be an established program based on the dominant iconographical or liturgical themes projected within the space, or be an alternative reading generated on a pattern of movement that goes against, or in addition to, an "official" narrative. Such narratives might result from the encounter between a public place and a person's individual histories. Narrative geographies could be studied at one particular historical moment, or be one that develops over generations, thereby layering meaning over time. Speakers might consider spaces for liturgical processions, sacred dramas, political or governmental assemblies, legal pronouncements, public punishments, or royal celebrations. Innovative methodologies and technologies are particularly welcome.

Gillian Elliott