hocclevesociety

International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 2021

Special Thematic Strand: Climates

International Hoccleve Society Sponsored Session

‘What world is this, how vndirstande am I?’

(Thomas Hoccleve, Dialogue with a Friend, 774)

Climates of reception hostile and propitious are a recurrent feature in the poetry of Thomas Hoccleve. His dialogues with imagined interlocutors, envoys addressed to real and imagined readers, and presentation of his poems in autograph manuscripts provide tantalising evidence of the historical and material circumstances for Hoccleve’s reception, as well the currents of patronage and socio-literary systems which he was interested to evoke. The history of Hoccleve criticism, especially the remarkable increase in critical interest over the last few decades, is all the more indicative of shifting climates of reception for Hoccleve’s multifaceted career; how Hoccleve was and is understood is now a lively and wide-ranging scholarly conversation.

The International Hoccleve Society (IHS) is pleased to invite proposals for a sponsored session at the International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 2021. The special thematic focus of the Congress is ‘Climates’, and the IHS is particularly interested in papers addressing ‘climates’ of reception in Hoccleve’s writings, their witnesses, and his critical heritage. Potential topics include but are not limited to:

• Narratives of reception in Hoccleve’s writings
• Hoccleve’s readers, real and imagined
• Reviewing Hoccleve’s milieu in light of recent biographical discoveries
• Hoccleve’s political and/or ecclesiological investments
• Situating Hoccleve in manuscript and early print
• Antiquarian interest in Hoccleve
• Recent trends in Hoccleve criticism

To propose a paper, please send an abstract of maximum 250 words with your name and affiliation to laurie.r.atkinson@durham.ac.uk by 31 August 2020.

A Series Presented by the International Hoccleve Society

The risks posed by the global pandemic has put academic conferences on hold for the time being and limited opportunities to develop and refine scholarship. To maintain collegial connections among our global community and to provide an interim venue for presenting works in progress and receiving feedback, the International Hoccleve Society is launching a series of informal online seminars, to be held on a regular basis. If you would like to join us, please send an email to hocclevesociety@gmail.com. We will add you to a dedicated mailing list for future announcements, seminar materials, and video links.

To help kick off our series, we will hold a seminar on Hoccleve’s neologisms, presented by Dr. Jenni Nuttall (Oxford) on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at the following time:

11am – North America, Pacific

12pm – North America, Mountain

1pm – North America, Central

2pm – North America, Eastern

7pm – U.K. and Ireland

8pm – Central European

Looking ahead, we invite brief proposals (~500 words) for topics on Hoccleve and any aspect of his works—late medieval literature and culture, disability studies, manuscript studies, translation, gender theory, affect, religion, and so forth. Please provide an overview of your topic and a description of your planned format of presentation (e.g., giving a paper, pre-circulating materials for guided discussion, etc.). We aim to keep the format flexible in order to suit a variety of presentations and stages of work. As a general guideline, we suggest having a presentation of about 15 to 20 minutes in length to allow for a stronger focus and ample discussion, and we expect seminars to meet for about an hour.

Please send proposals to hocclevesociety@gmail.com with “Hoccleve at Home” in the subject line. Although acceptance is not guaranteed, we will make efforts to accommodate proposals from around the world and work out suitable dates and times, depending on scheduling and time zone constraints. We would especially welcome proposals from graduate students, independent scholars, and untenured or non-tenure-track faculty.