Call for papers - Travel, Wonder and the Senses, ca. 1450-1750

Posted on 18 October 2021

Submissions for proposals will be open until 18 February 2022.

We invite proposals for conference papers on wonder and the senses in early-modern travel writing. Papers are welcome to discuss any geographical area.

They may explore (but are not restricted to) the following questions:

How did early-modern travellers express wonder?
What is the role of the senses in descriptions of wonder?
Did early-modern travellers doubt their own senses?
How did they address the problem of credibility and readers’ doubts when describing wondrous phenomena in their writing?
How does wonder in early-modern travel writing relate to scholarly themes such as race, gender, colonialism, material culture, religion, knowledge or scientific discourse?

Keynote speakers are Patricia Akhimie (Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ); Joan-Pau Rubiés (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona), and Lauren Working (University of York).

Please email a brief CV and proposals of 250-300 words for 20 minute papers to Dr Jaska Kainulainen, Docent of history at the University of Helsinki and a research associate at the Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies (CREMS) at the University of York, by 31 December 2021.

The conference is generously supported by the KONE FOUNDATION in association with CREMS, University of York.

It will take place in September 2022.