Faces of the Infinite: Neoplatonism and Poetics at the Confluence of Africa, Asia and Europe- 09-10-
The conference is intended to generate the first comparative overview of the extent to which Neoplatonist philosophy has permeated poetic forms, styles, themes and figurative language as well as poetic theory in seven principal languages of the greater Mediterranean region, from late antiquity to the modern period. Listed in alphabetical order, they are Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Persian, Spanish and Turkish. The findings are intended to result in a major publication which will shed light on the significance of Neoplatonism as a cross-cultural phenomenon which links the literary traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
FECHA/DATE/DATA: 09-10-11/11/2017
LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: The British Academy (London, England)
ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Professor Stefan Sperl, SOAS,( University of London) ; Professor Trevor Dadson (FBA, Queen Mary University of London) ; Dr Yorgos Dedes, (SOAS, University of London)
INFO: web
INSCRIPCIÓN/REGISTRATION/REGISTRAZIONE: online
PROGRAMA/PROGRAM/PROGRAMMA:
Thursday, 9 November 2017
09.00 Registration and refreshments
Session One: From Greek Beginnings to Arabic and Hebrew To examine the beginnings of Neoplatonist poetics in Greek and its emergence in Arabic and Hebrew
Chairs: Stefan Sperl, SOAS, University of London and Trevor Dadson, Queen Mary, University of London
09.15 Introduction: Background, Scope and Aim of Conference
09.40 Keynote Address Richard Taylor, Marquette University
11.00 Are Neoplatonists Neoplatonic in their Poetics? Alexander Matthew Key, Stanford University
11.45 Andalusian Hebrew Poems on the Soul and their Afterlife Adena Tanenbaum, Ohio State University 12.30 Lunch
Session Two: The Ascent of the Soul To compare and contrast the portrayal of the soul’s ascent in texts of different linguistic and religious provenance
Chair: Ziad Elmarsafy, King’s College London
13.30 Neoplatonist Concepts in 13th Century Arabic Mystical Poetry Stefan Sperl, SOAS, University of London
14.15 « Let us fly from the forms of beauty to the Creator of all beauty » : Neo‐ Platonic themes in the poetic works of ‘Abderrhamân Jâmî Leili Anvar, INALCO, Paris
15.00 Refreshments
15.30 Nostro intelletto si profonda tanto. Paradiso, I 8 and its Philosophical Background Cristina d’Ancona, University of Pisa 1
6.15 The Ascent of the Soul: Neo‐Platonic Themes in the Literature of the Golden Age of Spain Colin Thompson, University of Oxford
17.00 Close of first day
Friday, 10 November 2017
Session Three: from Late Antiquity to Byzantium and the Ottoman World To illustrate continuity and change in the poetic reception of Platonist concepts in the Eastern Mediterranean from Late Antiquity to Ottoman times Chair: James Binns, University of York
09.00 Hymn of the Pearl and Chaldaean Oracles: Platonism on the Border between Monism and Dualism, Imperial Centuries and Late Antiquity, Greek and Syriac Johannes Niehoff‐Panagiotidis, Freie Universität Berlin 09.45 Neoplatonism and Poetics in Late Antique and Byzantine Literature David Hernández de la Fuente, Universidad Nactional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid
10.30 Refreshments
11.00 ‘A Soul, Splendid by the Glory of God’: Karaite Poems about the Nature of the Soul from the Muslim East and Byzantium Joachim Yeshaya, University of Leuven
11.45 Ottoman Poetry: Where the Neoplatonic Dissolves into an Emotional Script for Life. Walter Andrews, University of Washington ‐ Paper to be presented by Mehmet Kalpaklı, Bilkent University, Ankara
12.30 Lunch
Session Four: Neoplatonism and Gender Identity in Early Modern Love Lyric To illustrate and compare relevant examples of 16th century Italian, Spanish and English verse Chair: Peter Robinson, University of Reading
13.30 Neoplatonic Discourse and Ottoman Women Poets: Negotiation, Legitimation and Subversion Didem Havlioğlu, Duke University
14.15 Beyond the Courts: Neoplatonism in Sixteenth‐Century Italian Poetic Culture Abigail Brundin, University of Cambridge
15.00 Refreshments
15.30 Italian Neoplatonism and Sixteenth‐Century English Verse John Roe, University of York
16.15 Negotiating Difference: Neoplatonism and the Discourse of Desire in the Early Modern Spanish Love Lyric Julian Weiss, King’s College, University of London
17.00 Close of second day
Saturday, 11 November 2017 (Please note that this third day is being held at SOAS and that separate registration is required)
9.30 Registration
Session Five: Neoplatonist Poetics and Mysticism in Spain and the Indo‐ Persian world To examine mystical concepts of possible Neoplatonist provenance in the works of major poets writing in Persian and Spanish Chair: Alessandro Cancian, Ismaili Institute, London
10.00 Poetry and Ishraqi Illuminationism among the Esoteric Zoroastrians of Mughal India Carl W Ernst, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
10.45 Neoplatonic and Sufi Approaches to Beauty: The Cases of Plotinus and Rūzbihān Baqlī Kazuyo Murata, King’s College, University of London
11.30 Refreshments
12.00 The Christian Neoplatonism of Francisco de Aldana in the Carta para Arias Montano Terence O’Reilly, University College, Cork
12.45 La erótica del infinito: Neoplatonismo, Cábala y Sufismo en la obra de José Ángel Valente Claudio Rodríguez Fer, University of Santiago de Compostela
13.30 Lunch
Session Six: Modern Echoes in Persian, Turkish, Arabic and Greek To illustrate the persistence of Neoplatonic themes in selected examples of modern poetry Chair: Yorgos Dedes, SOAS, University of London
14.30 Neoplatonist Relics in Modern Persian Poetry Ahmad Karimi‐Hakkak, University of Maryland
15.15 The New Image of the Beloved in the Old Mirror: Reflections of Neoplatonic Tradition in Modern Turkish Poetry Mehmet Kalpaklı & Neslihan Demirkol, Bilkent University, Ankara and Ankara Social Sciences University 16.00 Refreshments
16.30 Neoplatonist Echoes in Modern Arabic Poetry: The Case of Ahmad Matar Feryal Ghazoul, The American University in Cairo
17.15 Neo‐Platonists in Modern Greek Poetry David Ricks, King’s College, University of London
18.00 Conclusion and Summing Up Stefan Sperl, SOAS, University of London, Trevor Dadson FBA, Queen Mary University of London and Yorgos Dedes, SOAS, University of London