CFP: AEMA panels at ANZAMEMS 2019

The Australian Early Medieval Association (AEMA) is calling for paper proposals on Cultural Identity in the Anglo-Scandinavian World, to be presented as part of a panel convened at ANZAMEMS 2019

Scandinavian migration and settlement in the British Isles and Ireland in the early Viking Age effected significant cultural and social change among communities as cultures interacted, assimilated and, at times, rejected one-another. For scholars, categorising the resultant cultural groups has proved contentious, with a proliferation of overlapping terms such as ‘Anglo-Dane,’ ‘Anglo-Scandinavian,’ ‘Hiberno-Norse,’ ‘viking,’ ‘Norse,’ and ‘Dane,’ used interchangeably as ethnic identifiers. Contemporary sources, in contrast, do not clearly ascribe identity to ethnicity, but rather by cultural origin or religion. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for example, primarily refers to those of a Scandinavian cultural identity simply as Dene [Dane] or, at times when interactions were hostile, as hæðene [heathen]. Which gives rise to the question: how was cultural identity perceived in the Early Medieval Anglo-Scandinavian world and to what degree was self-identity associated with ethnicity, religion, or language?

Proposals are invited for 20 minute papers on any aspect of Anglo-Scandinavian cultural identity including, but not limited to:

  • Migration and the inter-cultural exchange of ideas
  • Religious identity and Christianisation
  • Linguistic identity and cross-cultural communication
  • Characterisations of the foreign in saga literature
  • The utility of modern categories of cultural identification

Please note that depending on the number of papers received and breadth of topics there may be the opportunity for a second panel: Religious Identity in the Anglo-Scandinavian World.

Please email your completed proposal to Matthew Firth (firt0021@flinders.edu.au) by 3 August 2018. Please include the following information:

  • Name
  • Affiliation (independent scholars welcome)
  • Email
  • Day or days of the conference on which you will NOT be able to give your paper?
  • Audio-visual requirements
  • Abstract (up to 300 words)

This panel will convene at the ANZAMEMS conference on 5-8 February 2019 at the University of Sydney, Australia. Please visit https://anzamemsconference2019.wordpress.com/ for further conference information, and for the ANZAMEMS Equity and Diversity guidelines.