The Cultural Heritage of Medieval Rituals III: Confronting the Heritage

 

10th-13th December 2004, University of Copenhagen

 The third annual conference of the Centre for the Study of the Cultural Heritage of Medieval Rituals will focus on confrontations with heritage.  It seeks to explore both radical processes of transformation within the heritage of ritual practices (continuities, discontinuities) and critical moments when that heritage is consciously reclaimed or discarded (remembering, rewriting, erasure, rejection).

The Centre for the Study of the Cultural Heritage of Medieval Rituals is an interdisciplinary research centre based at the University of Copenhagen.  Its staff members have research interests in theology, history, literary studies, musicology and art history.  Its aims are twofold: to examine a wide array of cultural practices from the Middle Ages to our own time with the aim of bringing to the fore connections between the arts and medieval ritual practices; and to reflect methodologically on such connections by drawing on current research into performativity, hermeneutics and historiography. 

 For the 2004 conference, papers which relate to the following themes and are open to interdisciplinary discussion would be especially welcomed:

 
Heritage˜Community˜Power

Reclaiming or Rehabilitating Heritage

Discarding and Erasing Heritage

Memory, the Will to Forget and Oblivion

National/Communal/Ethnic Identities

Interpretative Communities and their Disputes

The Presentness of the Past

The Newness of the Past in the Present

Renascences

Legitimation

 

In addition to these general thematic areas, proposals for papers are encouraged which address the diachronic aspect of heritage within specific historical contexts: these examples of an interaction or confrontation with heritage may, of course, be taken from modern, or pre-modern times.  The Conference seeks to cover as broad a historical span as is practicably possible and positively invites papers that trace reactions to heritage from historically unexpected angles.

 There is no fee for participation in the conference.  The Centre organises accommodation and meals for all participants, with a view to encouraging discussion beyond the formal sessions.  The cost of board and lodging at a conveniently situated Copenhagen hotel from Friday afternoon on 10th December (including dinner) to Monday 13th December (including lunch) will be 4 500 Danish Kroner.  However, the Centre is in a position to give financial support to a number of participants.  When submitting an abstract for the conference, please indicate whether you require financial support in order to participate.

 Proposals of 200 to 300 words should be sent by 15 July 2004 to Dr Mette Birkedal Bruun  (mbb@teol.ku.dk). Confirmation and further details will be sent out by the beginning of September.

 
Further information about the Centre, its research plan and the individual projects carried out there can be found at www.teol.ku.dk/kulturarv.

 
The Danish National Research Foundation:

Centre for the Study of the Cultural Heritage of Medieval Rituals.
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Theology
Købmagergade 44-46,           
DK-1150 Copenhagen K
Denmark