IMC 2014: Sessions

This international, interdisciplinary session explores the idea of 'perspective', both within narratives and between them. Who were the individuals or groups behind the production of the past? Who did they imagine themselves to be and what did they think they were achieving in recording their particular perspectives? Mr Reeve's paper will examine clerical perspectives on the genre of romance-writing and what these illuminate about medieval and modern perceptions and critiques of genre. Mr Alders's paper employs anthropological and literary approaches to collective minds and collective action in Magna Carta and the Brut chronicle, considering the 'group' perspectives which these works intend to convey. Professor Berkhofer's paper, following the conception of Isidore of Seville, investigates both charters and narratives as 'arguments about plausible pasts', offering insights into medieval perspectives on the past and modern perspectives on the nature of historical records. The scope of the session is designed to encourage delegates to think about the connection between perspectives within historical sources and perspectives which we, as scholars, have about historical sources.