Aquatic Animals in the Global Middle Ages, Zoom, September 27–28, 2021

Aquafauna has recently been the topic of several conferences and publications focusing on zoological knowledge, its transmission, and transformation. Our workshop aims to investigate the imagery of aquatic animals in literature, their symbolism, their metaphorical use, and widespread views and misconceptions about such animals.

We would like to propose a global perspective limited chronologically rather than geographically. Therefore, we ask for proposals for papers looking at the period between ca. 500 and 1500 from a broader perspective, trying to understand how aquatic animals made their way into literature, oral traditions, proverbs, idioms, and art. The comparative perspective will be welcome but is not necessary – we hope that different papers covering various chronological and geographical areas will provide a comparative outlook.

Organizers
Kirsty Stewart (Edinburgh)
Tristan Schmidt (Istanbul/Katowice)
Przemysław Marciniak (Katowice)
Katarzyna Warcaba (Katowice)