Fallen Animals: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Fallen Animals: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
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This is a past event

Following the success of the Fall Narratives project in 2014, this workshop will explore the theme of fallen animals.

The serpent in the Garden of Eden is but one example of the ambivalence which has characterized the human-animal relationship over the centuries, both across, and within, cultures, societies and traditions. With publications such as Anat Pick’s Creaturely Poetics (2011), the field of post-anthropocentrism studies has in recent years become particularly vibrant and attracts scholarly attention from a variety of disciplines.

Thursday 19th March, University Office Court Room9.30-10.15 Registration, tea and coffee

10.15 Official welcome

10.30-12.00 Panel I: Politics of Human/Animal Relations IChair: Zohar Hadromi-AlloucheLena Tiemeyer, University of Aberdeen, ‘Jonah and the Fish: the monstrofication of God's servant in Jewish and Christian reception history’Eric Ziolkowski, Lafayette College, ‘The ambivalent legacy of biblical bears in literature and art: from ursus diabolus to ursus ex machina’Brian Brock, University of Aberdeen, ‘“To see what he would name them”: naming, dominion and domination’

12.00-12.15 Tea and coffee

12.15-13.15 Panel II: Poetic Falls in AntiquityChair: Lena TiemeyerRobert Segal, University of Aberdeen, ‘The snake in the Garden of Eden: the blurry line among animals, humans, and gods’Sam Newington, University of Aberdeen, ‘Animal utopia and monstrous fall’

13.15-14.30 Lunch

14.45-15.45 Panel III: Creation MythsChair: Tim BakerSophie Ballard, University of Aberdeen, ‘“My love, my dove, my perfect one”: locating animal welfare in the Song of Songs’Kirsty Stewart, Oxford University, ‘“Who has the most faults?”: animal sinners in a Late Byzantine poem’

15.45-16.00 Tea and Coffee

16.00-17.00 Panel IV: Early/Modern Literary FallsChair: Áine LarkinRachel Stenner, University of Bristol, ‘Beyond the cat: the populous creaturely landscape of William Baldwin's prose narrative’Kevin Binfield, Murray State University, ‘Animals, their falls, and their roles in English labouring-class poetry’

17.00-17.30 Marco Iuffrida, Vatican Museums, with pianist Marta Eramo, ‘Piano music and “Romantic” fallen animals’Chair: Áine Larkin

17.30-18.00 Wine Reception, followed by conference dinner at Kilau, High Street, Old Aberdeen

Friday, 20th March, University Office Court Room9.00-9.30 Tea and coffee

9.30-10.45 Keynote address: Laura McMahon, University of Cambridge, ‘Animal Life and Cinematic Time’Chair: Áine Larkin

10.45-11.00 Tea and coffee

11.00-12.00 Panel V: Politics of Human/Animal Relations IIChair: Sam NewingtonTim Baker, University of Aberdeen, ‘Sovereign beasts: Adam Roberts’s Bête and the nature of suffering’Marco Iuffrida, Vatican Museums, ‘The early medieval safekeeping of “fallen” dogs’

12.00-12.15 Tea and coffee

12.15-13.15 Panel VI: Human/Animal TransformationsChair: Zohar Hadromi-AlloucheKate Walters, independent artist, ‘(We fall into their flesh…)’Constantin Canavas, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, ‘Do apes know about their origin?: narratives of animals emerging during fall in an Islamic context’

13.30 Lunch at the Bishop’s Table, University of Aberdeen, and closing remarks

Venue
University Office Courtroom
Contact

Dr Áine Larkin
Lecturer in French
University of Aberdeen, King's College
Aberdeen AB24 3UB
a.larkin@abdn.ac.uk
0044 (0)1224 272155