IMC 2021: Sessions
Session 1915: Changing Climates, The Preternatural, IV: A Round Table Discussion
Thursday 8 July 2021, 19.00-20.30
| Organiser: | Tabitha Stanmore, Department of History, University of Bristol |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Stephen Bull, Department of English University of Bristol |
| Abstract | Research into the preternatural has a long history, beginning as early as the 17th century with antiquarians' interest in local folk beliefs. Since then, scholarship has developed dramatically, with various interpretations of medieval beliefs, including arguments that magic belief was the preserve of the desperate and ill-informed, a manifestation of socio-cultural identity, or the product of major climactic changes. More recently, scholars have accepted that there was an internal logic and validity to belief in the preternatural. This round table discusses the state of scholarship on the preternatural today, new avenues for study, and how research is changing in the current intellectual climate. Participants include Claire L. Fanger (Rice University), Sam Gillis-Hogan (University of Exeter), Anne Lawrence-Mathers (University of Reading), Ekaterina Novokhatko (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), and Tabitha Stanmore (University of Bristol). |