The Materiality and Performance of Charms
The International Society for Folk Narrative Research (ISFNR) Committee on Charms, Charmers, and Charming invites submissions for its 2023 conference, which will be held at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, from 29-31 August, with an excursion on 1 September. Submissions are due by 15 March 2023.
The conference will explore verbal rituals, whether written or spoken, that aim to provide protection, healing, and similar benefits to their users. Papers discussing this topic from any discipline, dealing with any region or historical period, are welcome. The conference theme of materiality and performance seeks to enable comparison between practices that might be distant in place and time. Particularly encouraged are papers that explore how written charms are made and how spoken charms are performed.
Topics might include:
- Interactions between charmers and patients
- Spaces and places where charms are performed
- Ritual actions taken during the performance of charms
- Interplay between the words and materials of written charms and talismans
- The relationship between charm performance and religious ceremony
- Wearing, carrying, and consuming powerful words.
Proposals for 20-minute papers should be sent to Katherine Hindley
(khindley@ntu.edu.sg), including a title, 200-word abstract, and brief biography of the presenter. The language of the conference is English.
The conference will take place at NTU’s One North campus. There will be no registration fee for the conference, but the excursion will be chargeable.
For more details, click here.
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