IMC 2012: Sessions
Session 1001: Hostility and Hospitality in the Anglo-Saxon World
Wednesday 11 July 2012, 09.00-10.30
| Sponsor: | Centre for Late Antique & Medieval Studies, King's College London |
|---|---|
| Organiser: | Carl Kears, Department of English, King's College London |
| Moderator/Chair: | Carl Kears, Department of English, King's College London |
| Paper 1001-a | Dinner, Drinks, and Decapitation: A First (and Last) Date with Judith in Old English Literature (Language: English) Index terms: Gender Studies, Language and Literature - Old English |
| Paper 1001-b | Dreams of Belonging: Dislocation and Communal Joy in Old English Poetry (Language: English) Index terms: Daily Life, Language and Literature - Old English |
| Paper 1001-c | Saint Cuthbert as Host and Guest: Representations of Hospitality in the Literary Tradition of the Northern Saint (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Old English, Language and Literature - Latin |
| Abstract | What kinds of relationships exist between hostility and hospitality in Anglo-Saxon literary culture? What kinds of punishments awaited those who turned from hospitality to particular kinds of hostility? Did descriptions of inhospitable terrain present Old English poets with the opportunity to break certain poetic rules? This session will consider Anglo-Saxon conceptions of hostility, the many forms it can take, as well as the kinds of rules that necessitate and activate such hostility when they are broken. How did hospitable places establish rules and boundaries with the threat of hostility and punishment? What might this tell suggest about certain Anglo-Saxon anxieties associated with environments and social relationships? Was anywhere considered safe? |