Call for Papers



CALL FOR PAPERS

In different cultures, in the past as well as in the present, there are beliefs that the supernatural influences people's lives in different ways. In early modern Europe, God was believed to be a strict father who punished sinners and guided the believers, but also his adversary, the devil, was understood as an active actor in the mundane world. It was also thought that there were times when and places where the borderline between this and the other world was narrow, but different rite experts – and in some cases also ordinary people – could use trance techniques to make a journey to the other world. There were also, for instance, some fragile turning points during an individual’s life-span which were ritually protected.

The Eleventh annual Gustav Vasa seminar focuses on the themes of popular religion, witchcraft and magic. We invite papers to discuss these themes in multidisciplinary perspectives, e.g. from the fields of history, anthropology, religious science and archaeology. The focus of the seminar is on worldviews and belief systems and their internal logic, which influenced the way people understood the world and the supernatural. The aim is to look at these issues through intersectional studies in order to create a diverse picture of popular religion, witchcraft and magic.

In the seminar, the multidisciplinary approach is created not only by single papers that examine the subject from a cross-disciplinary perspective but also by papers representing different fields that can be useful to each other and bring new light on themes of popular religion, witchcraft and magic. For example, the theories and concepts of anthropology have been successfully utilized in the historical study of the early modern era.

The papers may deal with the themes of the seminar in the context of different time periods, from ancient times to the present. All proposals on the themes of the seminar are welcome. Papers may focus on, for example, the following themes:

- Methodological questions in multidisciplinary approaches, for example:
  •        How to utilize modern folklore material and results of folkloristic research in the study of earlier conceptions on the supernatural?
  •        How to utilize theories and concepts of different disciplines in the study of popular religion, witchcraft and magic?
- Rituals; Sacred times and places
- The role of gender in the study of popular religion, witchcraft and magic
- The relationship and conflicts between popular and “official” religion
- Experience and emotions related to popular religion, witchcraft and magic

Intending participants should register for the seminar by 31/1/2013 by sending a one-page (max.) abstract of their proposed presentation to hela-harjoittelija@campus.jyu.fi. Applicants will be informed about acceptance of their submitted topic and the programme of the seminar by the end of February.  The maximum permitted duration of presentations is 20 minutes, but participants may if they wish also submit longer texts. The working language of the seminar is English.

For further information, please contact Jari Eilola (jari.eilola@jyu.fi), Department of History and Ethnology, PL 35, FIN 40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland.

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