Call for Papers: Seventh International Conference on the Medieval Chronicle

The Liverpool Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at The University of Liverpool is delighted to announce that the Seventh International Conference on the Medieval Chronicle will take place at the University of Liverpool, 7^th – 10^th July 2014.

Keynote speakers include: Professor Pauline Stafford (University of Liverpool), Professor Anne D. Hedeman (University of Kansas), Professor Marcus G. Bull (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), and Professor Christopher Young  and Dr Mark Chinca (University of Cambridge).

The aim of the seventh conference is to follow the broad outline of the previous six conferences, allowing scholars who work on different aspects of the medieval chronicle (historical, literary, art-historical) to meet, announce new findings and projects, present new methodologies, and discuss the prospects for collaborative research.

The main themes of the conference are:

1. Chronicle: history or literature?

The chronicle as a historiographical and/or literary genre; genre identification; genre confusion and genre influence; typologies of chronicle; classification; conventions (historiographical, literary or otherwise) and topoi.

2. The function of the chronicle

The function of chronicles in society; contexts historical, literary and social; patronage; reception of the text(s); literacy; orality; performance.

3. The form of the chronicle

The language(s) of the chronicle; inter-relationships of chronicles in multiple languages; prose and/or verse chronicles; manuscript traditions and dissemination; the arrangement of the text.

4. The chronicle and the representation of the past

How chronicles record the past; the relationship with ‘time’; how the reality of the past is encapsulated in the literary form of the chronicle; how chronicles explain the past; motivations given to historical actors; the role of the Divine.

5. Art and Text in the chronicle

How art functions in manuscripts of chronicles; do manuscript illuminations illustrate the texts or do they provide a different discourse that amplifies, re-enforces or contradicts the verbal text; origin and production of illuminations; relationships between author(s), scribe(s) and illuminator(s).

CALL FOR PAPERS

Papers in English, French or German are invited on any aspect of Medieval Chronicle. Papers will be allocated to sections to give coherence and contrast; authors should  identify the main theme to which their paper relates. Papers read at the conference will be strictly limited to twenty (20) minutes in length. The deadline for abstracts is Saturday 1 February 2014 (maximum length one (1) side A4 paper, including bibliography). Please email your abstract to medchron@liverpool.ac.uk .

The conference will take place on the south campus of the University of Liverpool, near the centre of Liverpool, Merseyside, UK. Liverpool has its own airport – Liverpool John Lennon Airport – with connections to many European cities. Travel through Manchester Airport (which has direct train connections to Liverpool) is also possible. Accommodation will be in Vine Court, newly built en-suite accommodation on the South Campus, fifteenth minutes walk from the centre of Liverpool and Lime Street Station. A variety of guest houses and hotels (at a range of prices) are similarly available near the university.

More information about Vine Court and virtual tours can be found here.

The estimated cost for attending the full conference is £350 (Monday to Friday, inclusive of the conference fee, accommodation for four nights in Vine Court, breakfast, lunch, and two coffee breaks per day). A reduced rate will be offered to students (estimated cost £300). Please note that the estimates do not include evening meals, but there are a variety of restaurants, take aways, coffee shops, and supermarkets within walkable distance for delegates to use in the evenings.

We are very happy to accommodate any delegates wishing to combine attendance at our conference with a visit to Leeds International Medieval Congress, which also takes place 7^th – 10^th  July 2014. Leeds is approximate two hours from Liverpool by train. Please notify us of your intention to attend both conferences when you submit your abstract and we will work with you to avoid a programming clash.

Additional information about costs, accommodation, travel and registration will be provided shortly on a dedicated conference website.

To download the Call for Papers as a Word Document click here.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE ORGANISERS AT MEDCHRON@LIVERPOOL.AC.UK.