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IMC 2008: Sessions

Session 719: The Mirror of Nature in Medieval Aesthetic Literature and Culture

Tuesday 8 July 2008, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Oswald von Wolkenstein-Gesellschaft
Organiser:Cora Dietl, Institut für Germanistik, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen
Moderator/Chair:Cora Dietl, Institut für Germanistik, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Gießen
Paper 719-bLovers in between Forests and Gardens: Nature as a Mirror of Love
(Language: English)
Patrizia Mazzadi, Istituto di Lingue, Università degli Studi di Urbino
Index terms: Language and Literature - German, Language and Literature - Italian
Paper 719-cThe Topic of Nature in Japanese Waka and Renga
(Language: English)
Yuko Tagaya, Department of English, School of Humanities, Kanto-Gakuin University, Yokohama
Index terms: Language and Literature - Other, Mentalities
Abstract

In medieval poetic literature, as well as in the visual culture, nature often serves as a mirror of emotions, virtues, positions, states, or thoughts. At the same time, nature is mirrored in the form and style of poems, or in the shape, decoration or colour of clothings and weapons, i.e. the 'external shape' of persons, in fiction and in reality. The session will focus on the aesthetic dimensions and on the symbolism of the 'mirror of nature' in different cultures, genres and 'textiles' (in the multiple sense of the word).