Medieval History
CFP: The Glamour of Grammar (Kalamazoo 2010)
(With apologies for cross-posting)
If conventional, twenty-first-century thinking holds that grammar is a dull set of descriptions and prescriptions consisting only of skeletal schemes of morphology and syntax, it is worth remembering that these structures have crystallized out of a more dynamic mass of language. Grammar is theory?a way of seeing patterns and paradigms that only become visible when one steps back from mundane, everyday exchanges (which for the most part do not extend beyond immediate concerns?and can often be negotiated nonverbally) and seeks to comprehend the rules that permit more complex interactions.
Grammar, then, is not the province of pedants. Instead, it is a generative matrix for projects of inquiry. Just as mathematics and music have structures that provide the basis for more complicated operations (e.g., multiplication tables and scales), what the French call the ?human sciences? (sciences humaines) and the Germans the ?sciences of the spirit? (Geisteswissenschaften) rely upon grammar?elementary patterns distilled from the best exemplars of linguistic performance, literary or otherwise?to actuate their potential.
This panel takes its inspiration from the learned and stimulating explorations of medieval grammatical culture by scholars such as Martin Irvine, Vivien Law, and Rita Copeland. The session will be open to a variety of approaches: inventive readings of grammatical texts, discussions of medieval literature about grammar, literary analyses that are particularly attuned to questions of grammar, philosophies of grammar, and the relationship of 'grammatica' to literary theory, composition, and pedagogy. We hope for careful, reflective, and playful approaches to "la grammaire, qui sait régenter jusqu'aux rois!"
Please send your abstract and the Participant Information Form to Erik Butler (hbutle2 ? at ? emory.edu) and Irina Dumitrescu (idumitrescu ? at ? smu.edu) by September 15, 2009. Papers will be a maximum of twenty minutes long.
Participant Information Form available at: http://www.wmich.edu/~medinst/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF
- Grammar Of Medieval Greek Project
A new Grammar will be the first comprehensive description of the medieval and early modern Greek language. For the past five years, a team led by Professor David Holton of Cambridge University has been gathering, analysing and organising linguistic...
- Cfp For Mam Costume In Medieval Literature Kzoo 2010
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- Cognitive Theory And Medieval Performance Panel
Call for Papers Cognitive Theory and Medieval Performance Panel International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan May 7-10, 2009 Many theatre scholars are employing cognitive theory to explore drama and performance. This research has supported...
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Cognitive Theory and Medieval Performance International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan May 7-10, 2009 Many theatre scholars are employing cognitive theory to explore drama and performance. This research has supported long-held claims about...
Medieval History
CFP: The Glamour of Grammar (Kalamazoo 2010)
CFP: The Glamour of Grammar (Kalamazoo 2010)
(With apologies for cross-posting)
If conventional, twenty-first-century thinking holds that grammar is a dull set of descriptions and prescriptions consisting only of skeletal schemes of morphology and syntax, it is worth remembering that these structures have crystallized out of a more dynamic mass of language. Grammar is theory?a way of seeing patterns and paradigms that only become visible when one steps back from mundane, everyday exchanges (which for the most part do not extend beyond immediate concerns?and can often be negotiated nonverbally) and seeks to comprehend the rules that permit more complex interactions.
Grammar, then, is not the province of pedants. Instead, it is a generative matrix for projects of inquiry. Just as mathematics and music have structures that provide the basis for more complicated operations (e.g., multiplication tables and scales), what the French call the ?human sciences? (sciences humaines) and the Germans the ?sciences of the spirit? (Geisteswissenschaften) rely upon grammar?elementary patterns distilled from the best exemplars of linguistic performance, literary or otherwise?to actuate their potential.
This panel takes its inspiration from the learned and stimulating explorations of medieval grammatical culture by scholars such as Martin Irvine, Vivien Law, and Rita Copeland. The session will be open to a variety of approaches: inventive readings of grammatical texts, discussions of medieval literature about grammar, literary analyses that are particularly attuned to questions of grammar, philosophies of grammar, and the relationship of 'grammatica' to literary theory, composition, and pedagogy. We hope for careful, reflective, and playful approaches to "la grammaire, qui sait régenter jusqu'aux rois!"
Please send your abstract and the Participant Information Form to Erik Butler (hbutle2 ? at ? emory.edu) and Irina Dumitrescu (idumitrescu ? at ? smu.edu) by September 15, 2009. Papers will be a maximum of twenty minutes long.
Participant Information Form available at: http://www.wmich.edu/~medinst/congress/submissions/index.html#PIF
- Grammar Of Medieval Greek Project
A new Grammar will be the first comprehensive description of the medieval and early modern Greek language. For the past five years, a team led by Professor David Holton of Cambridge University has been gathering, analysing and organising linguistic...
- Cfp For Mam Costume In Medieval Literature Kzoo 2010
CFP for MAM Costume in Medieval Literature Kzoo 2010 Last call for proposals for the Medieval Association of the Midwest panel on ?Costume in Medieval Literature? for the Medieval Institute Congress in Kalamazoo in 2010. Any examination of medieval literary...
- Cfp: Feminist Approaches To Medieval Art
CFP: Feminist Approaches to Medieval Art: Islam, Byzantium, and the West International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan 13-16 May 2010 Feminist scholarship has had relatively little impact on Byzantine art history, and has yet to become visible...
- Cognitive Theory And Medieval Performance Panel
Call for Papers Cognitive Theory and Medieval Performance Panel International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan May 7-10, 2009 Many theatre scholars are employing cognitive theory to explore drama and performance. This research has supported...
- Cognitive Theory And Medieval Performance
Cognitive Theory and Medieval Performance International Medieval Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan May 7-10, 2009 Many theatre scholars are employing cognitive theory to explore drama and performance. This research has supported long-held claims about...