Human Diversity and Early Modern Religious Life: (Im)perfection and (Im)purity

Human Diversity and Early Modern Religious Life: (Im)perfection and (Im)purity

Veranstalter
Xenia von Tippelskirch, Goethe University Frankfurt; Karin Sennefelt, Stockholm University
Veranstaltungsort
Goethe University Frankfurt
PLZ
60629
Ort
Frankfurt am Main
Land
Deutschland
Findet statt
In Präsenz
Vom - Bis
26.06.2025 - 27.06.2025
Deadline
15.11.2024
Von
Andreas Häckermann, Historisches Seminar, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt

Workshop, 26–27 June 2025, Goethe-University Frankfurt

Human Diversity and Early Modern Religious Life: (Im)perfection and (Im)purity

Early modern religious life was characterized by the paradoxical nexus between the claim of universality and the principle of electedness. Universality had to be negotiated with the respective circumstances of social life. In the corporative society of the early modern period, social positioning played a major role; the intertwining of social status and the promise of salvation could lead to the stabilisation of social inequalities, but could also permit social mobility. Very concrete and practical questions had to be managed in this general framework, questions that determined who belonged to a specific religious community, what role, what position was to be given to different members of society, and who had a privileged relationship with the divine. But how were these decisions to be taken and to what extend did corporeal differences play a role? They were of key importance in the context of missions, imperial expansions and more generally in the confrontation of groups of competing religious denominations.

Analyses from the fields of gender history, inequality studies, critical race theory, critical whiteness studies and (dis)ability studies have repeatedly pointed to the complex mechanisms of social diversification. They call for a decoding of social and cultural models, theories and images based on corporeal characteristics. They demand to examine the production of such models and to analyse not only scientific knowledge but also everyday knowledge, moral assignments and meanings. Very important seems the study of implementation of those models and the role of specific forms of socialisation. One of the results of these studies is the observation that ability is not a question of dichotomous opposition, but rather of gradual transitions. The critical study of human diversity can therefore, as these studies show, lead to a better understanding of the functioning of societies.

In continuation of this interest, the planned workshop will focus on a very often neglected connection: the entanglement of physical and mental specificities and the religious sphere. The explicit aim is to analyse human diversity as considered in early modern theologies, responses of religious authorities and religious interpretations of difference, but also pious practices that seek to do justice to the differences in human disposition. We will thus take into consideration the recent shift in the history of religion towards the consideration of “lived religion” and therefore pay greater attention to the variation of religious practice. At times, human diversity was read as a sign of doctrinal deviation and religious dissent, but at other times precisely as a symptom of special distinction. The question of religious virtuosity, spiritual purity and signs of election might be analysed here in a systematic way. In doing so, it is deliberately concerned with the interweaving of different early modern religious contexts: Christian denominations, Judaism and Islam are to be juxtaposed.

We invite scholars to present case studies or more general reflections on human diversity and religious life in the Early Modern Period. The following questions might be addressed:

- Role of corporeal (im)perfection in the attribution of specific duties
- Sanctity and (dis)ability
- Colonial expansion, racialized diversities and religious practices
- Changes in relationships in religious communities and to salvation over the course of life

Each presentation should be 25-30 minutes long.

Scholars who wish to submit their proposal can send the titles and abstracts (max 250 words) of their presentations by November 15th to X.vonTippelskirch@em.uni-frankfurt.de and karin.sennefelt@historia.su.se.

Subject to funding approval, reimbursement for some travel expenses will be available for speakers.

In collaboration with: EMoDiR (https://emodir.hypotheses.org/), Arbeitskreis Gender&Pietismus (https://izp.uni-halle.de/gender_pietismus/)

Bibliography:
Peter Burschel, Die Erfindung der Reinheit. Eine andere Geschichte der frühen Neuzeit, Göttingen 2014.
Elisabeth Fischer/ Xenia von Tippelskirch (eds.), Bodies in Early Modern Religious Dissent. Naked, Veiled, Vilified, Worshiped, Routledge 2021.
Brendan Röder, Der Körper des Priesters. Gebrechen im Katholizismus der Frühen Neuzeit, Frankfurt 2021.
Karin Sennefelt, A Pathology of Sacral Kingship, Past & Present 2020.

Kontakt

X.vonTippelskirch@em.uni-frankfurt.de
karin.sennefelt@historia.su.se.

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