Call for Papers
The Stimulated Body and the Arts:
The Nervous System and Nervousness in the History of Aesthetics

International Interdisciplinary Conference
17-18 February 2011

Centre for the History of Medicine and Disease
Durham University, UK

Venue: Hatfield College, Durham, UK
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 July 2010

This conference will discuss the history of the relationship between
aesthetics and medical understandings of the body. Today¹s vogue for
neurological accounts of artistic emotions has a long pedigree. Since G.S.
Rousseau¹s pioneering work underlined the importance of models of the
nervous system in eighteenth-century aesthetics, the examination of
physiological explanations in aesthetics has become a highly productive
field of interdisciplinary research. Drawing on this background, the
conference aims to illuminate the influence that different medical models of
physiology and the nervous system have had on theories of aesthetic
experience. How have aesthetic concepts (for instance, imagination or
genius) be grounded medically? What effect did the shift from animal spirits
to modern neurophysiology have on aesthetics?
The medical effects of culture were not always regarded as positive. The
second focus of the conference will be the supposed ability of excessive
reading, music and so on to Œover-stimulate¹ nerves and cause nervousness,
mental and physical illness, homosexuality and even death. It will consider
questions regarding the effects of various theories of neuropathology and
psychopathology on the concept of pathological culture. What kinds of
culture could lead to such over-stimulation? How was this medical critique
of culture related to moral objections and changes in gender relations,
politics and society? How was it linked to medical concern about lack of
attention and willpower?
This interdisciplinary conference brings together scholars working in a wide
range of fields, including not only the history of medicine but also in
subjects such as art history, languages and musicology. Abstracts for
20-minute papers (maximum 250 words) should be submitted electronically to
the organisers by 31 July 2010 at the following address:
James.kennawaydurham.ac.uk

Organisers
Dr James Kennaway
Professor Holger Maehle
Dr Lutz Sauerteig

http://www.dur.ac.uk/chmd/