CALL. 06.11.2017: Remembering and Forgetting the Enlightenment (Association of Art Historians 2018 A
FECHA LÍMITE/DEADLINE/SCADENZA: 06/11/2017
FECHA CONGRESO/CONGRESS DATE/DATA CONGRESSO: 05-06-07/04/2018
LUGAR/LOCATION/LUOGO: King’s College London (London, England)
ORGANIZADOR/ORGANIZER/ORGANIZZATORE: Hans Christian Hönes (The Warburg Institute); Daniel Orrells (King’s College London)
INFO: web - call - hoenes@bilderfahrzeuge.org ; daniel.orrells@kcl.ac.uk ; aahsessions2018@gmail.com
CALL:
Art history is often considered a child of the Enlightenment: its methodological roots – aesthetics and historicism – are commonly associated with towering figures of the 18th century. Winckelmann and Kant loom large, and their influence on the development of the discipline is uncontested. And yet, numerous art writers have been virtually forgotten, even though their contribution to and influence on 18th- and 19th-century discourses on art was probably just as important as the theories of the better-known German grandees. Pierre d’Hancarville or Jørgen Zoega are just two names, representative of those whose work has not stood the test of time. More often than not, these writers belong to what has been called the ‘Super-Enlightenment’: their thinking is infused with mystical and occult ideas and is often interested more in history and myth than in beauty and style. That art history turned a blind eye might be surprising, given recent attempts to reinvigorate approaches open to ‘unreason,’ in order to develop new ways for explaining the power of images. The renaissance of the work of Aby Warburg is notable here. This panel aims to evaluate these selection processes in the historiography and epistemology of art history and aesthetics: where and why do art historians, from the 18th to the 21st century, acknowledge the Enlightenment legacies of their discipline and when is it swept under the carpet? Does this canon formation in art history differ from other disciplines, such as classics and archaeology? Where has the ‘Super-Enlightenment’ left its traces in art historical thinking?
This is a call for papers for the "Remembering and Forgetting the Enlightenment" Panel at the AAH conference. Deadlines for proposals: 6 November 2017. Proposals should be 250 words. Please email proposals to panel organisers.