HomeAncient Mothers and Motherhood: representations, practices and reappropriations From Antiquity to the present day

Ancient Mothers and Motherhood: representations, practices and reappropriations From Antiquity to the present day

Mères et maternités antiques : représentations, pratiques et réappropriations de l’Antiquité à l’époque contemporaine

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Published on Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Abstract

Cet appel à communication est proposé par l’équipe de recherche plurdisciplinaire « Ama-Mater : regards croisés sur les maternités antiques » dont l’objectif est d'étudier les représentations et les réceptions de figures maternelles antiques, de l’Antiquité à nos jours. Le colloque vise à réunir des chercheuses et des chercheurs de manière plus large afin de poursuivre les réflexions engagées depuis deux ans dans notre enquête pluridisciplinaire. Nous visons à mettre en lumière les points de convergences et de divergences dans l’étude des maternités sur le temps long en nous appuyant sur des cas concrets de mères antiques à partir de sources diverses.

Announcement

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Argument

The project « Ama-Mater: regards croisés sur les maternités antiques » (20232025) aims to study the representations and receptions of ancient maternal figures from Antiquity to the present day. The words “ama” and “mater”, that mean “mother” in Sumerian and Latin, seek to encompass the chronological and geographical boundaries of the corpus of mothers studied, from the invention of writing in ancient Western Asia (4th millennium BCE) to the Late Antiquity (5th century CE). The Ama-Mater research team is multidisciplinary, it includes archaeologists, historians and art historians specializing in the ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary periods, as well as specialists in the performing arts and a visual artist (https://www.meshs.fr/page/ama-mater).

The intent of our approach is to be a part of the scientific renewal regarding the study of motherhood in the humanities and social sciences that took place in the past twenty years. Research on gender in general, and on women in particular led to a reappraisal of motherhood, starting from a mostly medical perspective, studies evolved to encompass the physiological and social aspects of motherhood. Researchers have taken into account the role of mothers, but also their feelings, emotions and the rights and duties inherent to the function or viewed as such. 

The issue of ancient mothers’ vulnerabilities, real or assumed, drives part of our thinking in this research project. We are particularly interested in the links between the legacy of ancient maternal figures and the moral and social injunctions imposed on women and mothers from Antiquity to the present day. Do our views on ancient mothers help spread an ethos imposed on women or do recent reappropriations of these figures enable women to break free from norms and experiment new practices of motherhood?

This call for contributions aims to gather researchers from diverse backgrounds in order to pursue the research questions that have occupied the members of the project for the past two years. Our ambition is to combine different approaches from each period with the various methods specific to each discipline. The intent is to shed light on the similarities and differences in studies pertaining to motherhood from a diachronic perspective by focusing on concrete cases of ancient mothers based on various types of sources (textual, iconographical, archaeological, audiovisual…). The research avenues are numerous, the following themes are mere examples:

1) To become a mother: situations and representations

The conference will welcome papers exploring trajectories of motherhood: how the legal and social situations of women becoming mothers in Antiquity appear in ancient sources, the influence of certain criteria such as age, marriage or social status and how it all evolves through the different stages of a mother’s life. We are also interested in how the attributes of motherhood are represented and can be the vehicle for norms and values from Antiquity to the present day. 

2) To be or not to be a mother: types and practices of motherhood

Mothers, motherhood and experiences of maternity are diverse in ancient sources. One of our goals is to identify the different types of motherhood (biological, symbolic, adoptive…) that existed in Antiquity. This would include the question of childless and childfree women as well as motherhood as a literary or visual staple used to refer to other functions held by women, such as religious Christian vocabulary. The reception of all these types of motherhood, be they divine, mythological, historical, or other, through time, is of particular interest to us.

3) To act and be perceived as a mother: agency and/or vulnerability?

Gender roles and the dangers of childbirth in Antiquity have often placed women in vulnerable positions physically, morally and socially. Does motherhood grant, in negative or positive ways, activities and roles to women? Do these experiences and practices of maternity result in increased agency and/or vulnerability? Does motherhood entail specific forms of power? Do the successive uses and reappropriations of ancient mother figures reinforce these perceived vulnerabilities, or do they offer models of empowerment to women?

This conference welcomes early career researchers and senior scholars. The accepted papers will be considered for publication. The abstracts (500 words max.), in French or in English, should include a working title, the sources and methodology used and the main research questions. The abstract should also include a short presentation: name, speciality, title, institution, and contact information. 

Submission guidelines

Submissions are to be sent to Caroline HUSQUIN (HALMA, UMR 8164, Université de Lille) (caroline.husquin@univ-lille.fr), Sonia MZALI (HALMA, UMR 8164, Université de Lille) (sonia.mzali@univ-lille.fr) and Lucie SALAMOR (HALMA, UMR 8164, Université de Lille) (lucie.salamor@univ-lille.fr).

Abstract submission deadline: 20 December 2024

Notification of acceptance: January 2025

The conference will take place at the Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille (France), on the 11th, 12th and 13th of June 2025. Accommodation costs and meals will be covered. Travel costs may be covered for early career researchers not eligible for subsidies from an institution.

Scientific Committee

  • Laura BATTINI, chercheuse en assyriologie, Collège de France – PROCLAC-UMR 7192
  • Emmanuelle BERTHIAUD, maîtresse de conférences en histoire moderne, Université de Picardie Jules Verne – CHSSC- UR 4289
  • Fabien BIÈVRE-PERRIN, maître de conférences en réception de l’Antiquité, Université de Lorraine – SAMA-UR 1132
  • Véronique DASEN, professeure d’archéologie classique, Université de Fribourg (Suisse)
  • Charles DELATTRE, professeur de langue et littérature grecque, Université de Lille – HALMA-UMR 8164
  • Sylvie DONNAT, Professeure des universités en histoire, langue et archéologie de l’Égypte ancienne, Université de Lille – HALMA-UMR 8164
  • Pauline FERRIER-VIAUD, maîtresse de conférences en histoire moderne, Université d’Artois – CRESHS-UR 4027
  • Caroline HUSQUIN, maîtresse de conférences en histoire ancienne, Université de Lille – HALMA-UMR 8164
  • Anne JUSSEAUME, maîtresse de conférences en histoire contemporaine, Université d’Artois – CRESHS-UR 4027
  • Tiphaine KARSENTI, professeure en études théâtrales, Université Paris-Ouest-Nanterre – HAR-UR 4414
  • Sophie LARIBI-GLAUDEL, docteure en histoire grecque.
  • Laurence LELEU, maîtresse de conférences en histoire médiévale, Université d’Artois – CRESHS-UR 4027
  • Frédéric MOUGENOT, Conservateur des antiquités, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille
  • Sonia MZALI, doctorante en assyriologie, Université de Lille – HALMA-UMR 8164
  • Lucie SALAMOR, doctorante en histoire romaine, Université de Lille – HALMA-UMR 8164

Places

  • Place de la République
    Lille, France (59)

Event attendance modalities

Full on-site event


Date(s)

  • Friday, December 20, 2024

Keywords

  • maternité, maternité antique, mère, figure maternelle, genre, femme, représentation, norme, réception, littérature, études visuelles, études théâtrales, études cinématographiques, réception de l'Antiquité, Mésopotamie, monde romai

Contact(s)

  • Lucie Salamor
    courriel : lucie [dot] salamor [at] univ-lille [dot] fr

Information source

  • Lucie Salamor
    courriel : lucie [dot] salamor [at] univ-lille [dot] fr

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Ancient Mothers and Motherhood: representations, practices and reappropriations From Antiquity to the present day », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/12lg4

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