INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "Constructing the Other and the Self. Representations of identity and otherness in the Middle Ages"

Description

SCIENTIFIC COORDINATION: Paulo Catarino Lopes (IEM - NOVA FCSH)

CONFERENCE ORGANISER: Paulo Catarino Lopes (Institute for Medieval Studies -
NOVA University of Lisbon / School of Social Sciences and Humanities)

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:
• Amélia Aguiar Andrade (IEM – NOVA FCSH)
• Yvonne Hendrich (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz)
• Paulo Catarino Lopes (IEM – NOVA FCSH)
• Susani Silveira Lemos França (UNESP - Campus de Franca)
• Maria João Branco (IEM – NOVA FCSH)
• Pedro Martinez García (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos)
• João Luís Fontes (IEM – NOVA FCSH)
• Vânia Leite Fróes (Universidade Federal Fluminense)
• Catarina Barreira (IEM – NOVA FCSH)

ABSTRACT:
The topics of identity and otherness are of the greatest relevance and actuality. To reflect critically and in an interconnected way on both dimensions concerning the context of medieval travel is to bridge a better understanding of the present in all its frailties. Such is the primary objective of the International Conference “Constructing the Other and the Self. Representations of Identity and Otherness in the Middle Ages”. This meeting will address the discovery of the other by the self and the absolute interdependence of both, showing how, after all, the borders that mark alterity are as tenuous as they are permeable, for the self is always an other, and each of the other is also a self.
Travel leads to encountering, and encountering always generates identity and the exercise of otherness. Whether in the short journey between the village and market, or in the long voyage to the Far East, glances are exchanged and ideas, images and models with them. The world we know is perceived therefrom, and so is the other. Those conditions, after all, are construed a priori from a whole set of patterns proper to specific cultural, symbolic, and religious system, namely medieval europe’s.

➢ Congress topic guidelines
Broadly speaking, the papers should be set against the background of representing identity and otherness in the context of travel – considered in its various dimensions:
• Geographical exploration (curiosity; desire to know)
• Pilgrimage
• Diplomatic missions (official and unofficial)
• Missionary work
• Military campaigns
• Trade
• Peregrinatio academica
• Religion
• Relating to royal/noble marriages
• Encountering different ethnic groups and religions (Jewish, Muslim, pagan, communities of foreigners...)
• Encountering the marginalised, exiled and excluded

Period	13 Oct 2022 → 14 Oct 2022
Event type	Conference
Location	Lisbon, PortugalShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International