Posted on 10 September 2010
The period between 1550 and 1700 was one of widespread religious conversion, prompted by the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, encounters between European states and the Ottoman Empire, and the expansion of global trade and exploration.
This conference will investigate the variety of ways in which men and women created stories about conversion. It will ask not only what constituted conversion (whether understood as a change or as an intensification of faith) in this period, but also how narrative shaped people’s expectations of religious change and enabled them to articulate their experience in a variety of ways.
The conference forms part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project ‘Conversion Narratives in Early Modern Europe, 1550-1700’. We welcome submissions that deal with any aspect of this topic, and are particularly keen to receive papers that will help us to develop a global perspective. The project is interdisciplinary in scope, and we invite not only literary and historical, but art historical, anthropological, and other approaches.
Possible questions may include but need not be limited to:
Abstracts of c. 300 words should be submitted by 1st December 2010 to conversionnarratives@york.ac.uk. Submissions of panels and individual papers will be equally welcome.