The Provocative Fifteenth Century
Huntington Library, October 15-17, 2015
Until very recently, the literature of fifteenth-century England had been characterized as overly decorous, overly didactic, and aesthetically and intellectually dull. This conference, which will be held at the Huntington Library October 15-17, 2015, will explore the myriad ways that fifteenth-century texts defy and escape such traditional and traditionally negative critical paradigms, and showcase instead how they are in fact especially provocative in their various engagements with readerly expectations. Bringing together international leaders in the field, this conference is designed to attract interdisciplinary attention to the recent resurgence of critical interest in fifteenth-century texts and manuscripts, and moreover, to help reshape the critical dialogue about this important moment in English literary history at the cusp of the modern age. The conference will begin with a reading at 7:30 pm on Thursday, October 15, by the poet and recently elected professor of poetry of Oxford, Simon Armitage, and continue with paper panels over the next two days. Speakers include Robert Meyer-Lee, Jenni Nuttall, James Simpson, Jessica Brantley, Daniel Wakelin, Andrea Denny-Brown, Shannon Gayk, Alexandra Gillespie, Catherine Sanok, Anthony Bale, Anke Bernau, and Lisa H. Cooper. For more information and to register see http://www.huntington.org/uploadedFiles/Files/PDFs/Provocative15th.pdf or contact Lisa H. Cooper (lhcooper@wisc.edu) or Andrea Denny-Brown (andreadb@ucr.edu).
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