CPF: ‘Representations of Temperate/Intemperate Emotions in Visual Art and Literature’, IMC Leeds (5–8 July 2021), deadline 15 September 2020

Organizer: Dafna Nissim, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

In medieval philosophy, excessive joy, fear, or anger were signs of an imbalance in the human organism that had implications on one’s moral behavior, decision-making, and, ultimately, salvation. Medieval theological treatises, mirror for princes genre texts, fictional literature, and chivalric manuals wrote of temperance as a virtue that has to be practiced and achieved, a quality that demonstrated the balanced path between the extremes of excess and deficiency. Medieval texts and visual culture reflect many allusions to the importance of temperate emotions in realizing the virtue of moderation.

Proposals exploring medieval texts and/or images looking for cues that indicate excessive or temperate feelings, the range of their expression, and the rhetorical devices employed will be welcome. The session will look at the audiences that observed, heard, and acquired these cultural products and the contexts of their creation to determine the ultimate objectives of these representations in the social, ethical, and spiritual arenas.

Please send abstracts of 250 words and a short bio to dafnani@post.bgu.ac.il by 15 September 2020.