USA Africa Dialogue Series - Genius Loci in the Prehistory of the Baltic Sea Region[ A Concept Central to Animistic and other Cultures]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: davide.ermacora <davide.ermacora@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2019 at 20:51
Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Austmarr IX: Genius loci in the Prehistory of the Baltic Sea Region extended deadline
To: <ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC@jiscmail.ac.uk>

Genius loci in the Prehistory of the Baltic Sea Region

The 9th Austmarr symposium

Klaipėda, Lithuania, 29-31 May, 2019

Austmarr IX is devoted to the topic of genius loci. The term genius loci literally refers to 'spirit of a place', rooted in a concept for a type of supernatural being of Roman religion. The concept has been extended metaphorically from a supernatural agent inhabiting a place to the 'spirit of a place' as an abstract atmosphere that can be conceived in many ways and becomes particularly interesting as a tool for exploring the past. A challenge is that the phenomenon is difficult to pin down and can be conceived in different ways. Nevertheless, studies of it involve a wide range of specialists, and interdisciplinary discussion is much needed.

We invite theoretical and methodological discussion based on empirical data from the Baltic Sea Region and cultures inhabiting it. Ideally, research should consider both the development and transformations of the history of sites in question, or the history behind sites of a particular type in a broader survey. Discussions of genius loci may take a broad comparative perspective; consider its perception in local collective experience or in individual engagement with a site. Relevant topics include:

• The emergence of construction of a genius loci
• The evolution or change of a genius loci over time
• Typologies of genii loci
• Variation and stratification of genii loci in a particular area or of a particular type
• Meanings of genii loci for individuals or communities, or in personal or collective experience
• Genius loci and cultural memory
• Genius loci and practice
• Is there a strict distinction between a genius loci as a supernatural agent and as an abstract agency or as an abstract atmosphere? Are these competing interpretations, or perhaps in fluid variation?
• Can a genius loci persist after a place has been lost?
• What causes a place to lose its genius, and with what consequences?
• How do different sorts of source materials relate to genii loci or what methodological issues do different types of sources present for their study?

A main aim of the symposium is to promote a better understanding of genius loci through fruitful communication across disciplines that share common interests and concerns for cultures and their contacts and networks in the Baltic Sea region.

Austmarr IX is organized as a two-day event, followed by an excursion.

All researchers (including PhD students) who are interested in presenting their ideas or research results connected to these or similar topics are encouraged to submit proposals with a short (up to 250 words) abstract for 20-minute paper presentations (followed by 10 minutes of discussion). Those interested in participating without presenting a paper are also asked to register in advance.

The deadline for paper proposals and workshop registration is May 7th. Please send abstracts and personal information for registration to vykintas (dot) vaitkevicius (at) gmail (dot) com.

The venue of the symposium will be: University of Klaipėda, Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology.

Further information can be found on the symposium website: http://www.austmarr.org

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USA Africa Dialogue Series - Fwd: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Fwd: The Formula in Oral Poetry and Prose Symposium (Call for papers)

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: davide.ermacora <davide.ermacora@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2019 at 08:28
Subject: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Fwd: The Formula in Oral Poetry and Prose Symposium (Call for papers)
To: <ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC@jiscmail.ac.uk>

Very interesting conference on the "Oral-Formulaic Theory" and related issues

Dav

____

Dear colleagues,

 

We wish to invite you to the symposium

 

The Formula in Oral Poetry and Prose

New Approaches, Models and Interpretations

1st Symposium of the Project "Formulae in Icelandic Saga Literature"

Tartu 5-7 December 2019

 

Call for papers:

 

In 1928 Milman Parry presented his definition of formula in the Homeric epics. It was followed by a series of articles which resulted in a new view of oral poetry in general. The "Oral-Formulaic Theory", with its prominent role of precisely the formula, brought together poetry from genetically unrelated traditions into a universal model. It affected the research on various literary traditions, not least the Eddic poetry and the saga prose, and resulted in many reinterpretations. But the theory has also been questioned and revised. New approaches in the study of formulas have been developed among linguists and folklorists. The present symposium aims to discuss new approaches, models and interpretations of formulas in traditional poetry and prose. The symposium will have a special focus on Old Norse literature, but it attempts to integrate the research on several different cultures and let the knowledge of and research on them shed light on each other.

 

Keynote speakers:

Frog, Helsinki University, "Formulaic Language and Organizing Principles of Discourse: Making Sense of the Phenomenon in 'Poetry' and 'Prose'"

Stephen Mitchell, Harvard University, "Memory, Formulas, and Merging Revisited"

William Lamb, University of Edinburgh, "The Formula in Narrative Prose: Recent Research and Future Challenges"

Paul Acker, Saint Louis University, "A History of Oral Formulas and Eddic Poetry"

Bernt Øyvind Thorvaldsen, University of South-Eastern Norway, "The Eddic Formula: Methodological Considerations"

Slavica Rankovic, Independent scholar, "The 'No Reaction' Formula in Íslendingasögur: A Distributed Reading of Grettir's Temper Management"

Jonathan Roper, University of Tartu, "Formulas in Anglophone Tales"

The symposium will focus on the following sub-topics:

• The degree of universality of the formula concept: Is it possible to see formulas as a universal phenomenon, as Albert Lord did, with an essentially similar function and manifestation in unrelated traditions, or is it necessary to define the concept 'formula' for each tradition?

• The function of the use of formulas: While Lord claimed that the use of formulas mainly was a practical tool for the performer, more recent scholars such as John Miles Foley have argued that formulas are signals to the listener for how individual passages should be interpreted. How should the function of the formulas be understood and is there a universal answer?

• Formulas in narrative prose: Prose is left outside Parry's and Lord's model, since that model is already in its definition related to the metrical form, but several scholars have nevertheless used the concept of 'formula' in research on traditional prose. Can formulas in prose be analyzed in the same way as formulas in poetry, or do they differ in fundamental ways? Which tools can be used for analyzing formulas in prose?

• The distinction between formulas and other meaning-bearing units: If one accepts that a 'formula' must not be a completely fixed string of words, as in Parry's and Lord's definition, it might be a problem to decide the degree of variation that can be allowed. How can we draw dividing lines between e.g. formulas and motifs, or do we need to define new concepts for formulaic units of a borderline character?

• Formulas in oral poetry and 'formulaic language' within linguistic theory: In which relation do these formula concepts stand to each other and to what extent can the linguistic formula concept, developed for analysis of ordinary discourse, be used for analysis of poetic formulas?

• Formulas and oral tradition: Is the concept of 'formula' applicable to only oral tradition or is it possible to talk about formulas (of essentially the same character) in written literature too, when that has a background in oral tradition? Is it possible, as some scholars have claimed, to use the frequency of formulas as a criterion for determining the oral origin of a work?

 

All researchers (including PhD students) who are interested in presenting their ideas or research results connected to these or similar topics are encouraged submit proposals for 20-minute paper presentations (followed by 10 minutes of discussion). The venue of the symposium will be University of Tartu, Department of Scandinavian Studies.

 

Please send short abstracts by September 1 to daniel.savborg@ut.ee. Further information can be found in the attachment and on the symposium website: https://www.maailmakeeled.ut.ee/en/departments/formula-oral-poetry-and-prose 

 

You are of course welcome to forward this call for papers to anyone whom you think might be interested.

 

Daniel Sävborg, Professor of Scandinavian Studies

University of Tartu

 

__________________

Daniel Sävborg

Professor of Scandinavian Studies

University of Tartu

Skandinavistika

Lossi 3

51003 Tartu

Estonia

Tel: +372 737 6250

daniel.savborg@ut.ee

 

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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ahmadu Bello University: Dress Code

I remember at the Ibadan polytechnic in the 70s there was a  Yoruba llanguage Lecturer who used to lament openly about young female students wearing topless to classes asking whether they did not feel cold (even slapping them in the back).  Obviously they were a distractiin to us fellow students but it was a bid by the female students to show how westernized they were.

Also teaching in a U.S. college I also recall how every spring on approach to summer the college President always cautioned female students to desist from ' revealing everything in their dress codes and leave a little to the imagination of their male students counterparts.

Sensible dressing is a good idea not to distract fellow students from learning.  It depends on how far you want to enforce dress codes and each regions idea of what is appropriate is different based on how conservative the general area is in order not to offend the sensibilities even of the local population.

Not everything western is good even to westerners.

OAA

Not everythi

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

-------- Original message --------

From: Obododimma Oha <obodooha@gmail.com>

Date: 27/04/2019 18:24 (GMT+00:00)

To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ahmadu Bello University: Dress Code

I read the university bulletin and laughed. So, a university is now a
seminary? So, I would leave my research and begin to screen students
and ask them questions about why they are wearing this or that?

One is not surprised. When we have abandoned what we we were employed
to do, why won't we turn to caution prefects or police on dressing?

Quite ridiculous!

Obododimma.

On 4/27/19, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:
>
>
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--
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B.A.,First Class Honours (English & Literary Studies);
M.A., Ph.D. (English Language);
M.Sc. (Legal, Criminological & Security Psychology);
Professor of Cultural Semiotics & Stylistics,
Department of English,
University of Ibadan.

COORDINATES:

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