[H-verkko] CFP: IDEALIZED DEATHS – an international multidisciplinary symposium

[agricola at utu.fi]

Agricolan artikkelipyyntöihin on lähetetty uusi ilmoitus:
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IDEALIZED DEATHS – an international multidisciplinary symposium
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Call for papers

IDEALIZED DEATHS – an international multidisciplinary symposium

University of Jyväskylä, 11th – 12th February 2016

Why are some deaths more admirable than others? Are some causes of death more
likely to create a beautiful memory? Do people need the idea of a beautiful
death even in the 21st century? What is the meaning of martyrdom in our time? Is
the death of a pop star always idealized?

Death studies have a long tradition of mapping various cultures of death and
also tracing the changes modernization has caused in our understanding of good
death. The idea that death has somehow “disappeared” from Western cultures
has been dismissed as outdated: death is everywhere, deaths sells newspapers and
internet sites, even if people still have problems talking about it in their own
lives. Throughout history deaths have been interesting and important: the way
people have died may have been decisive for their fate in the afterlife, not to
mention their posthumous reputation. Some causes of death may be considered more
beautiful than others; some give the dying person more time to prepare for their
death. Tragic deaths touch people’s hearts and may raise the popularity of an
artist to new heights.

In this symposium we intend to bring together scholars from various academic
disciplines to discuss the topic of idealized death. What makes a death
exemplary? Does a certain kind of death add to the legend of an already
legendary person? Is dying young always beautiful and idealized? Are all good
and beautiful deaths somehow sacrificial? Have some people tried to become
immortal, one way or another, by seeking special kind of death?

Possible topics and ideas for abstracts:

Martyrs and martyrdom in religions


Death in war


Sacrificial ideals and death


Political deaths and martyrs


Causes of death: tuberculosis, cancer, AIDS


Suicide and past memorialization


Rock’n’roll lifestyle and death


Fandom and memorialization



Keynote speakers will be Dr Paul Middleton, University of Chester, UK and prof.
Marja-Liisa Honkasalo, University of Turku, Finland.

The symposium is organized by the Finnish Death Studies Association and the
Department of History and Ethnology in association with the Nordic Network of
Thanatology.

The symposium fee is 100 euros, covering conference materials and all meals
mentioned in the programme (forthcoming). We wish to receive abstracts no more
than 300 words by the 15 August to the address ilona.pajari(at)jyu.fi. All
inquiries concerning the symposium should also be sent to this address.

 

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Ilmoituksen lähetti: Ilona Pajari <ilona.pajari at jyu.fi>
Ilmoitus vanhentuu: 15.8.2015