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IMC 2021: Sessions

Session 1613: Representations of Temperate / Intemperate Emotions in Visual Art and Literature, II: Fear and Anger

Thursday 8 July 2021, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:Dafna Nissim, Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva
Moderator/Chair:Tovi Bibring, Department of French Culture, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan
Paper 1613-aWhat Are You So Afraid of?: Scare Tactics in Hebrew Illuminated Manuscripts
(Language: English)
Sara Offenberg, Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva
Index terms: Art History - Decorative Arts, Hebrew and Jewish Studies, Heraldry
Paper 1613-bIllustrating Anger: Divine Retribution in 'Pèlerine' (La Vie des pères)
(Language: English)
Karen G. Casebier, Modern & Classical Languages, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
Index terms: Art History - Decorative Arts, Language and Literature - French or Occitan
Paper 1613-cSelf-Control, Rationality, Illusion, and Mutual Respect: A Dominican Poet Addresses His Audience - Ulrich Bonerius's The Gemstone, 1350
(Language: English)
Albrecht Classen, Department of German Studies, University of Arizona
Index terms: Education, Language and Literature - German
Paper 1613-dUnexpected and Immoderate: Grinning Heads and Bewildered Grimaces in the 13th Century
(Language: English)
Elena Lichmanova, School of History Higher School of Economics Moscow
Index terms: Art History - Decorative Arts, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Abstract

In medieval philosophy, excessive joy, fear, or anger were signs of an imbalance in the human organism that had implications on one's moral behavior, decision-making, and, ultimately, salvation. Medieval theological treatises, mirror for princes genre texts, fictional literature, and chivalric manuals wrote of temperance as a virtue that has to be practiced and achieved, a quality that demonstrated the balanced path between the extremes of excess and deficiency. Medieval texts and visual culture reflect many allusions to the importance of temperate emotions in realizing the virtue of moderation. This session brings together papers that examine textual or visual manifestations of fear and anger, two emotional states that demonstrate withdrawal from expected moderation. They reveal who is allowed to feel intemperate feelings, in what situation, and what are the means to overcome these emotional states in medieval thought.