Friday, February 06, 2009

CFP - The mad scientist in 19th to 21st century fiction

Brest, 1-2 Oct 2009

The mad scientist is a complex figure which dates back to Antiquity, a time when genius and madness were perceived as complementary facets. This complementarity persists, fuelled by successive epistemological crises which question the perception human beings have of themselves and of the world around them. The figure of the mad scientist crystallizes many diffuse fears which can be political, social, religious, economic or ideological and which are related to the possibility of defining oneself as a human being (Hawthorne, Collins, Doyle, Stevenson, Stoker, Machen, Wells).

This symposium will focus on contemporary metamorphoses of the mad scientist in narratives and visual arts of the late 20th century and early 21st centuries, in the English-speaking world (A. Carter, J. Coe, P. Mc Grath, M. Amis, W. Self) but not exclusively so. Visual arts will enable us to reach beyond geographical or temporal frontiers as the mad scientist’s popularity is highly indebted to the cinema. Proposals may deal with various socio-cultural contexts and emphasize ontological, epistemological, psychological, economic or political aspects which have contributed to the persistence and aura of the figure of the mad scientist.

Abstracts should be sent before the 15th of March 2009 to: helene.machinal@univ-brest.fr or camille.manfredi@univ-brest.fr

The symposium is organized by CEIMA, HCTI, EA 4249, Université de Bretagne Occidentale

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