Our Sessions at the International Medieval Congress, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, May 2011

Call For Papers:  46th International Medieval Congress, 12–15 May 2011

In keeping with the mission of the Research Group on Manuscript Evidence to "apply an integrated, holistic approach to manuscripts and texts in all forms," next year we will sponsor two sessions examining the material culture of writing in Western Europe and beyond, the roles of inscriptions, the meaning(s) of ornament and non-figural forms, the multiple uses of codes and symbols, and the potential of "secrets" transmitted through books.  One session is co-sponsored by the Societas Magica.

• Session I.  Medieval Writing Media:  Papyrus, Parchment, Paper, and Beyond

  Medieval records would not continue to exist if the media on which they were composed did not survive.  This session examines the materials on which documents, books, and other texts were written.  We focus principally upon the materials onto which writing could be placed in large amounts and which now dominate the archives:  papyrus, parchment, and paper.  Permanent materials of comparatively low volume or transitory nature (such as stones and wax tablets) will be considered if time and space permit.

  While research has long since established the processes involved in producing papyrus, parchment, and paper, developments recently in many fields show that the time is ripe to consider these materials as commodities and across cultures.  In exploring the evidence, the session will address such questions as:  1) Why did users choose one medium over another?  2) Within each type, how did quality vary and who would want which grade?  3) How do these commodities illustrate international trade conditions – for example, when did Italian paper became a significant product in Near Eastern markets?

  Session Organizer:  Eleanor A. Congdon
  400 Elruth Ct. #136
  Girard, OH 44420
  330-545-6246
  dr_c_n_izzy@yahoo.com

• Session II.  Books and Secrets:  Epigraphs and Symbols, Ciphers and Signs (co-sponsored by the Societas Magica)

  Session Organizer:  Sarah C. Parker
  The University of Texas at Austin
  Department of Art & Art History
  1 University Station--D1300
  Austin, TX 78712
  scelenparker@gmail.com

  The substitutional relationship of text and image, with images serving as “books for the illiterate” in the words of Pope Gregory the Great, has been recognized as an insufficient understanding of how word and image function together in human cognitive process.  Our session will continue the conversation concerning the visual experience of the written page.

  We hope to explore ways that knowledge may be obscured in language, art, symbols, or presentation, and how it can be revealed through the guise (or disguise) of the book.  That is, how might text, numbers, presentation, or layout function convey information that is not verbal expression or quantifiable data?  How might an epigraph, whether as inscription or motto, assume the stature of invoked representation of the author, donor, or other individual(s) memorialized in a text as if in effigy, remaining present across time and space?  How does script enhance or act as the source of the expressive power of the page?

  Whether filled with esoteric themes or whisperings of hidden knowledge of scientific, astrological, magical, mystical, moralistic, or artistic subjects, the book becomes a vessel containing a secret knowledge.  Deciphering these elements, both written and unwritten, may unlock deeper meanings and layers of text.

We welcome proposals with abstracts of 250-300 words from scholars of all levels.  Please send your proposal, along with a completed participant information form (available at www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/submissions/index.html), to the Organizer of the Session of your choosing by 15 September 2010.  You are welcome to contact Eleanor or Sarah with any questions you may have about their Sessions.

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Information about the International Medieval Congress and the Societas Magica appears on their websites:

http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/
and http://www.societasmagica.org.

Information about our sessions in previous Congresses appears on our pages on

Sponsored Conference Sessions and Co-sponsored Conference Sessions.

Please watch this page and these sites for developing information about the next Congress.

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