The Problem of Medieval Refugees
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Exemplaria: Medieval / Early Modern / Theory
Organizer Name
Randy Schiff
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. at Buffalo
Presider Name
Randy Schiff
Paper Title 1
Outcast Intimates
Presenter 1 Name
Elizabeth Allen
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of California-Irvine
Paper Title 2
At the Edge of Grief: Rethinking the Ethics of Sympathy for Medieval Refugees
Presenter 2 Name
Evelyn Reynolds
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Indiana Univ.-Bloomington
Paper Title 3
A Political Theology of the Refugee as Neighbor
Presenter 3 Name
Joseph Taylor
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. of Alabama-Huntsville
Paper Title 4
Powers of Horror, Powers of Wonder: Herzog Ernst and the Refugee as Abject
Presenter 4 Name
Ricarda Wagner
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Univ. Bern
Start Date
10-5-2018 1:30 PM
Session Location
Bernhard 210
Description
Then and now, the plight of the refugee compels us to ask searching questions about morality, identity, migration, and suffering. Rendered vulnerable by harrowing circumstances, refugees force us to consider the ethics of the neighbor; dislocated by dangers, refugees remind us of the arbitrariness of political maps that render some of us safe and some of us abject. Insofar as they reflect historical conditions and register affective responses to hazards, literary texts provide a powerful lens for theorizing the medieval refugee.
The Problem of Medieval Refugees panel invites short papers that will stimulate discussion of the vital theoretical issues opened up by the violent displacement of individuals. The roundtable format will enable scholars working on various literary periods and cultures to contribute to a general theoretical discussion inspired by meditation on refugees. The problem of medieval refugees is germane to a number of discrete, but related theoretical fields. The ethical issues opened up by refugees invite scholarship devoted to theorizing the problem of the Neighbor, a key concern in political theology. Embodying the suffering of exiled populations, refugees are of acute interest to premodern biopolitics. The psychological issues related to the plight of refugees provide fertile terrain for critics deploying trauma theory and psychoanalysis. The displacement of refugees within a dynamic transnational frame also raises crucial questions for literary scholars engaging with postmodern geographical theories of space. Finally, the question of who counts as a refugee, insofar as it brings up questions of citizenship and immigration, will be of acute interest to scholars informed by theories of nationalism and postcolonialism.
Noah D. Guynn
The Problem of Medieval Refugees
Bernhard 210
Then and now, the plight of the refugee compels us to ask searching questions about morality, identity, migration, and suffering. Rendered vulnerable by harrowing circumstances, refugees force us to consider the ethics of the neighbor; dislocated by dangers, refugees remind us of the arbitrariness of political maps that render some of us safe and some of us abject. Insofar as they reflect historical conditions and register affective responses to hazards, literary texts provide a powerful lens for theorizing the medieval refugee.
The Problem of Medieval Refugees panel invites short papers that will stimulate discussion of the vital theoretical issues opened up by the violent displacement of individuals. The roundtable format will enable scholars working on various literary periods and cultures to contribute to a general theoretical discussion inspired by meditation on refugees. The problem of medieval refugees is germane to a number of discrete, but related theoretical fields. The ethical issues opened up by refugees invite scholarship devoted to theorizing the problem of the Neighbor, a key concern in political theology. Embodying the suffering of exiled populations, refugees are of acute interest to premodern biopolitics. The psychological issues related to the plight of refugees provide fertile terrain for critics deploying trauma theory and psychoanalysis. The displacement of refugees within a dynamic transnational frame also raises crucial questions for literary scholars engaging with postmodern geographical theories of space. Finally, the question of who counts as a refugee, insofar as it brings up questions of citizenship and immigration, will be of acute interest to scholars informed by theories of nationalism and postcolonialism.
Noah D. Guynn