CALL FOR PAPERS

(Deadline: 31 January 2008)

CONCEPTS OF CREATIVITY IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND

Two-day International Interdisciplinary Symposium

6­7 September 2008

School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of Manchester, UK Funded
by the Arts and Humanities Research Council

Creation: 'a making or forming of something, as it were, out of nothing'
Edward Phillips, A Nevv VVorld of VVords, Or a General English Dictionary
(London, 1678)

Invited speakers:
Prof. James Winn, Boston University (Keynote speaker)
Prof. Andrew Walkling, Binghamton University
Prof. Amanda Eubanks Winkler, Syracuse University

The early modern period witnessed the flowering of what, today, we would
call the creative arts in England, and in recent years the social and
cultural significance of such activities has come to be appreciated
increasingly by scholars across a broad range of disciplines. But what
exactly did it mean to form something, 'as it were, out of nothing' in the
seventeenth century? While our modern understanding of creativity is firmly
based around ideas of imagination and originality, it is far from clear that
such concepts were always relevant to the production of visual art, music,
plays, poetry and literature in the seventeenth century; moreover, basic
tenets that we tend to take for granted‹such as the primacy of the
author‹have been shown to be inappropriate in a number of significant
studies. The aim of this interdisciplinary symposium is to explore ways in
which we can seek to understand what it meant to be creative in the early
modern period. Suggested themes include the following:

- Ideas of authorship and intellectual property
- 'Imitatio' and originality
- Literacy and the function of memory
- Performance and text in music and drama; issues of improvisation
- Print and manuscript cultures; the impact of printing on creativity
- Contemporary terminology for 'creative' activities; 'art' and 'science'
- Evidence for creative processes
- Women and creativity
- The professional and the amateur

We welcome proposals for papers from an interdisciplinary field, including
cultural historians, art historians, dance historians, theatre historians,
musicologists and literary scholars. Details of the call for papers are
given below, and on the University of Manchester's website at
http://www.arts.manchester.ac.uk/subjectareas/music/research/musicalcreativi
ty/conference; further information will be posted at this location in due
course.

It is intended that selected papers will be published in revised form after
the conference as a collection of essays.

The symposium forms part of a four-year research project, 'Musical
Creativity in Restoration England', funded by the Arts and Humanities
Research Council, and directed by Dr Rebecca Herissone, Senior Lecturer in
Musicology at the University of Manchester. The project comprises the first
systematic investigation of professional musical creativity in Restoration
England; based on close study of the surviving primary sources within the
social and cultural contexts in which they were produced, it seeks to
situate composition within the broader framework of 'creative activity' in
seventeenth-century England. We are grateful to the AHRC for its support in
funding this symposium.

Strongly interdisciplinary in its approach, the School of Arts, Histories
and Cultures at the University of Manchester comprises a subject group
including Music, Art History and Visual Studies, Drama, English and American
Studies, History, and Religions and Theology. The School focuses on
exploring the material, visual, creative and performative dimensions of
culture with a particular interest in historically contextualised cultural
problems.

Proposals are invited for:
1. Individual papers of 20 minutes' duration (10 minutes to be allowed for
discussion after each paper).
2. Sessions involving three or four papers on a specified area commensurate
with the theme of the conference, given by different individuals and lasting
not more than one-and-a-half hours, including discussion.

Any individual may submit one proposal.

Proposals must include the following information:
1. Name
2. Institution
3. Postal Address
4. Telephone number
5. Email address
6. Abstract: not more than 250 words for individual papers; not more than
500 words for group sessions.

Proposals should be sent via email to: rebecca.herissonemanchester.ac.uk
AND ALSO POSTED OR FAXED to:

Dr Rebecca Herissone
Martin Harris Centre for Music and Drama
University of Manchester
Coupland Street
Manchester
M13 9PL
fax: +44 (0)161 275 4994

The deadline for receipt of abstracts is: 31 January 2008 Informal enquiries
are also welcomed and can be sent by email to Dr Herissone.

Organising Committee:
Dr Rebecca Herissone, University of Manchester (Convenor)
Dr Alan Howard, University of Manchester
Prof. Amanda Eubanks Winkler, Syracuse University
Prof. Andrew Walkling, Binghamton University