Call for papers here (submission until 31 October 2023; closed).

Identities in the Early Modern Period

The Renaissance and early modern period (1350-1750) play a crucial role in the formation of Western identity. It was during these centuries that the notion of Europeanness first appeared, the strong, centralized state emerged, the printing press was invented, linear perspective was first devised, the Lutheran reformation – and the Counter-reformation – took place, and the European vernaculars gained importance alongside Latin, the old lingua franca of the West. Such events, changes, and inventions were not only important in their own right, they also created a wealth of new communities – political, social, cultural, religious, or linguistic – which had acute bearing on how people would define themselves, their identities.

    Identities are constructed on various levels; they have personal as well as collective dimensions, and there is power in specifying the identity of a community. Leaders, be they military, political, religious, institutional or other, can consolidate their positions by defining the identity of the members of their community, but in doing so effectively rely much on artists and scholars. As well as top-down, identities can be worked bottom-up, so to speak: actively working to construct an identity for oneself, for instance by means of art and scholarship, can be a way to gain membership or be accepted in a certain group or community.

    The Sixth NNRS Conference, organised by the Centre for Danish Neo-Latin, invites scholars of all fields of Renaissance studies to submit proposals for individual papers or sessions considering any aspect of identity in the early modern period.

Identities in the Early Modern Period is the sixth conference of the Nordic Network for Renaissance Studies.