07.10.2024 – 09.10.2024, Prague

Submission Deadline: 15.03.2024

Researchers from various disciplines are invited to submit proposals for 30-minute papers on the subject of invective practices in Medieval and Early Modern Europe.

When it comes to constituting and maintaining social cohesion, contemporary political discourse usually warns against social polarization and division, while also invoking values such as solidarity and cooperation. From an analytical point of view, however, the roots of human communities are more diverse and contradictory. A group may have come into being by command or consensus, by contract or propaganda, by necessity or kinship, by all at the same time, or in another way altogether. Particularly effective are such concepts that enable a group to recognize and determine itself through some kind of conflict with others. The “we” is thus often constituted in demarcation and in contrast to “the other(s)”.
This mechanism of communication was also decisive in premodern Europe, from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. It can be observed in ever-changing constellations, from the confrontation between orthodox believers and “heretics” to the humanists’ vituperation and the Enlightenment’s contempt towards the common people. The manifold patterns of intercommunitary disparagement will be the focus of the planned conference.