Call for Papers
THE PERFORMATIVE IMAGE--RSA 2012.

Images often assert a presence that transcends their inert representational properties and belies their status as mere objects. The image’s performative qualities are especially potent when used to bolster religious piety, consolidate authority, instruct the faithful, or coerce audiences into ideological, political, or philosophical modes of behavior. The early modern world—due to the theological crisis of the Reformation, the imperialistic overseas expansion of European powers, and the changing politics of cultural identity engendered by increased trade and globalization—bears witness to the deployment of images for such purposes. This panel will explore the role of the image as a performance within all such contexts and the consequences that these performances had in the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Papers might address specific instances of image performance or otherwise deal with the larger historical problem of how early modern performativity was conceptualized by period artists and audiences.

Please send paper titles and abstracts (150 words) and CVs to two organizers: Andrew Casper (casperarmuohio.edu) and Christian Kleinbub (kleinbub.1osu.edu) by May 23, 2011.