Call for Papers
‘The Living Dead and the Transmission of Otherworldly Knowledge in Medieval Texts and Images’
International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds 2025
Due By 16 September 2024
Office of the Dead in a Book of Hours, San Marino, Huntington Library, MS HM 1165, fol. 105r.
Throughout the Middle Ages, narratives circulated in which the dead returned to convey special knowledge to the living, appearing in the form of ghosts, visions, and walking corpses. As intermediaries between the world of the living and the world of the dead, these figures revealed hidden truths, issued dire warnings, and imparted wisdom about the future and the afterlife. This session focuses on representations of the living dead in art and literature throughout the medieval period, with a particular focus on the role of the dead as keepers and transmitters of hidden knowledge.
We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers on topics relating to the living dead in medieval art and literature, which may include:
Accounts of ghostly apparitions in waking life, dreams, and visions
Descriptions of the afterlife given by the dead as well as visionary encounters with the dead in heaven, hell, and purgatory
Encounters with walking corpses or other corporeal undead
Visual representations of interactions between the living and the undead
Necromancy and magical contact with the spirits of the dead
Warnings and prophecies pronounced by the dead
The living dead as conveyors of moral lessons in exempla and didactic literature
Confessions and revelations of hidden sins in encounters with the living dead
Discussions of commemorative practices between the living and dead
The nature of interactions with ghosts and other revenants, including noise and non-verbal communication
Submit abstracts of up to 250 words to Sam Truman (sat89@case.edu) and James Galvin (james.galvin@keysfamily.co.uk) by Monday, 16 September 2024. Please reach out if you have any questions.