LITERATURE AND THE SUPERNATURAL
NORSE IN THE NORTH • UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS • 18 MAY 2023
The 2023 Norse in the North conference seeks to facilitate interdisciplinary conversation and comparative discussion of the supernatural as represented in medieval Scandinavian literature.
Medieval Scandinavian literature has and continues to be studied greatly by scholars both in Scandinavia and across the world. There are still sagas and tales from this period that have yet to be translated fully and scholars are continually interpreting the discourse in new ways. The supernatural/paranormal is one topic that arguably has been explored to a greater extent than other aspects of the literature. This is due to the universal fascination with otherworldly places and beings that permeate into our world. And yet articles and papers continue to be made to this day that bring a new focus and new perspectives to the material. How then do these new perspectives on the supernatural/paranormal develop our understanding of medieval Scandinavian literature as a whole?
TOPICS OF INTEREST INCLUDE
(BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO)
- The Gods and Old Norse Mythology
- Representations of supernatural beings: draugr, bersekr, mound dwellers, magic users, guardian spirits, etc.
- Historical and contemporary reactions
- Concepts of Liminality
- Discussions of the otherworld
- Cross-cultural understandings
- The supernatural in context
- Marginalised texts and creatures
- Story-worlds
As this conference wishes to facilitate the development of new perspectives on the supernatural/paranormal world in literature, we warmly welcome any papers that analyse medieval literature in Scandinavia from an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and global perspective. We also encourage papers that engage thoughtfully with narrative theory, disability theory, gender theory, postcolonial theory, and other theoretical frameworks in their discussions of medieval Scandinavia.
We invite proposals for 15-20 minute papers from current postgraduate students (MA, MPhil, PhD) from any area of medieval studies. Please submit a title and an abstract of 250 words, along with an accompanying short biography by 14 March 2022 to norseinthenorthofficial@gmail.com. We also invite topics for one or more roundtable discussions, for which you can send us a 100 word abstract detailing the topic for discussion to the same address.
Norse in the North 