Iberia, Multiculturalisms, and Marginal Writing
Closely related to the graduate seminar Microliteratures: In the Margins of the Law, this series of seminars (issue #2 of Iberian Connections) convenes specialists from varied fields of inquiry whose lines of questioning also converge in Iberia. With a critical eye on the concepts of multiculturalisms and marginal writing and their historical underpinnings, we will be addressing some questions crossing periods and disciplines. Some of those questions are the following: what does it mean to collect sacred books as part of a war booty? What kind of contemporary political work does do the recovery and re-reading of Andalusi philosophical narratives in colonial and post-colonial settings? How do we address feminist discourses from the past, and what kind of concepts do they provide for contemporary critical thought? How does the study of magic across cultural Iberian spaces challenge contemporary ideas about multiculturalist and cross-disciplinarity? How do we engage with the concept of constitutional writing and constitutional thinking in past law, in a way that can enlighten contemporary thought on constitutional law? Nuria de Castilla (EPHE, Paris), Murad Idris (Virginia), Souleymane Bachir Diagne (Columbia), Borja Franco (UNED, Spain), Yonsoo Kim (Purdue), Alberto Montaner (Zaragoza, Spain), Emanuele Conte (EHESS, Paris; Roma Tre, Rome), and Beatrice Pasciuta (University of Palermo) will address those and other questions.
Sessions
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Session 01 — September 17, 2019 — 3:20 pm
Romance languages Lounge, 82-90 Wall Street, Yale University, New Haven CT 06511Open or CloseCopies of the Qur'an in the Iberian Empire
This seminar, conducted by Professor Nuria de Castilla, from the EPHE, Paris, will deal with her research on the manuscripts of the Qur’an, and other Arabic and Aljamiado manuscripts, in the Mediterranean basin, with specific interest in the copies that were gathered for collections in different institutions across the Iberian empire –including the royal library.
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Session 02 — September 26, 2019 — 3:20 pm
Romance languages Lounge, 82-90 Wall Street, Yale University, New Haven CT 06511Open or CloseThe Philosophical Fable of Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān
In conversation with Souleymane Bachir Diagne and Murad Idris, we will read the philosophical fable of Ibn Tufayl, Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān along with contemporary questions on politics, philosophy, religion, and colonialism.
Guests
Souleymane Bachir Diagne Murad Idris Aseel AlfataftahArticles
Open to Reason — Diagne The Politics of Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān — Idris What is the philosopher self-taught about?Readings
Ibn Tufayl and the story of the feral child of philosophy — Idris & Elshakry Ibn Ṭufayl’s Critique of Politics — Idris Producing Islamic philosophy — Murad Idris -
Session 03 — October 22, 2019 — 3:20 pm
Romance languages Lounge, 82-90 Wall Street, Yale University, New Haven CT 06511Open or ClosePortraying conversion: The Image of the Moriscos in Iberia
In 1609, more than a century after the forced conversion (1501) of Iberian Muslims (“Moriscos”) and following a difficult and ultimately failed process of assimilation through coercion and persecution, the Spanish crown issued the Edicts of Expulsion of this minority. Various evangelization campaigns had unsuccessfully attempted to acculturate them into the Iberian Catholic mainstream. Eventually, ever-growing suspicion of the Moriscos’ true religious and political loyalties triumphed over acceptance.
Guests
Borja Franco Leslie HarkemaArticles
Portraying conversion — FrancoReadings
The Image of the Morisco in Iberia — Franco -
Session 04 — October 29, 2019 — 3:20 pm
Romance languages Lounge, 82-90 Wall Street, Yale University, New Haven CT 06511Open or CloseOther Feminisms
In this seminar, Yonsoo Kim, professor at Purdue University, will present her research on women writing, convent life, and disability in the Iberian Middle Ages. By addressing those subjects, she will also introduce novel concepts on how to speak about feminisms in the Middle Ages. Holly Brown will present her digital humanities project on women writers. Nils Longueira will be the moderator and respondent.
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Session 05 — November 5, 2019 — 3:20 pm
Romance languages Lounge, 82-90 Wall Street, Yale University, New Haven CT 06511Open or CloseMacro y microconjuros en la estratificación de la magia
Professor Montaner will present his work on multilingual and multi confessional magic, amulets, and talismans. With a critical perspective on curses and spells, he will break some of the ones we may be under.
Guests
Alberto Montaner Frutos Esteban Crespo JaramilloArticles
Erictho’s spell —MontanerReadings
On Magic in the Early Modern period -
Session 06 — November 19, 2019 — 3:20 pm
Romance languages Lounge, 82-90 Wall Street, Yale University, New Haven CT 06511Open or ClosePreserving Sovereignty
Law professors and historians Emanuele Conte (EHESS, Paris; Roma Tre) and Beatrice Pasciuta (Palermo) will present their research on constitutionalism and the margins of the law.
