NYU English Graduate Student Conference

Sovereignty and Metaphor

September 24-25, 2015

Speakers:
Victoria Kahn (University of California, Berkeley)
Paul Strohm (Columbia University)
John Rogers (Yale University)
Kathleen Davis (University of Rhode Island)
Brandon Chua (University of Queensland)
Jacques Lezra (NYU)
The graduate students of the Department of English and MARC at NYU invite proposals for papers that explore the reciprocity between sovereignty and metaphor in English and continental (Latin and vernacular) writing from the medieval to early modern period.
This conference seeks to understand the work of metaphor in the creation of sovereignties during the medieval and early modern periods. We are calling for papers that integrate literary and political readings of metaphor as a way of exploring how metaphors both represent and shape new realities. From the medieval period’s investment in the King’s two bodies to Hobbes’ Leviathan, metaphors were employed in political prose, drama and poetry to express, deny and produce sovereignty. This conference will also address how issues of sovereignty and metaphor are implicated in the act of periodization, both within these periods of interest, and in our own historical analyses.
Key Terms:
Sovereignty, Metaphor, Monarchy, Consent, Religion, Political Theology, Secularization, Feudalism, Slavery, Colonialism, Sexuality, Violence, Translation, Materialism, Periodization
This conference is designed to promote engagement between graduate students and professors across periods and disciplines. In addition to six guest speakers, a NYU faculty respondent will follow each small graduate student panel. All presenters are invited to the conference dinner, hosted by NYU. Also, a small number of graduate student bursaries will be available for students traveling long distances to attend the conference.
Please submit 250 word proposals for 20 min papers to sovereigntyandmetaphor2015@gmail.com by May 15, 2015.
All papers must be submitted in full by August 24 to allow time for faculty responses.
This conference is funded by the Department of English, MARC, and the Humanities Initiative at NYU. This conference is convened by Gina Dominick and Ruby Lowe.