À CORPS PERDU
The Body: limits, constructions, intensity
International PhD Conference
20-22 September 2017
“Nous habitons notre corps bien avant de le penser”
Albert Camus
The body has been the object of manifold re-definitions, and yet it remains an undiscovered
territory, bordering on the uncanny. It is a nomadic entity, a witness of history, of stasis and
movement. While various forms of knowledge can but asymptotically touch the body, art gives a
kaleidoscopic representation of it. Existence seems to be the only common ground of this whirlwind
of art, science and philosophy. Indeed, for all human beings, to exist means, more than anything, to
adhere to the body that we are. The body turns into the precondition not only of every gesture, but
also of every thought. And yet it seems absurd to reduce existence to its biological dimension only.
Whereas grasping the irreducible complexity of the body is at the core of the scientific project,
voicing it is the ill-concealed destiny of literature. If, according to Nietzsche, “only that which has
no history can be defined”, we face here an irreducible complexity that escapes the realm of words,
an elusive swerve that is nonetheless intimately tied to life. This conference aims at theoretically
thinking the multi-faceted core of being in the world, the body.
Proposals are not limited to, but may address any of the following topics:
The altered body
1.
2.
3.
4.
Body and illness
Body and trauma
Body and suffering
The fragmented body
The transformations of the body
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Seasons of the body: from childhood to old age
Pregnancy, maternity, abortion
Suicide and euthanasia
The dead body
The mask and the double
Obesity and anorexia
The body and the Other
The limits of the body
1. The self vs the body
2. The body as jail
3. The body of the Other
4. Cyborg
Body and sexuality
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Sexual satisfaction
Sexual dependency
Transexuality, intersexuality
Sexual orientation
Sado-masochism
Body and culture
1.
2.
3.
4.
Religion
Rites of passage
Death rituals
Reincarnation
5.
6.
7.
8.
Anthroporfism and zoomorfism
The body as political act
Body’s rights
Body trade
Body and arts
1. Body art
2. Performance art
3. Actual body and virtual body
Abstracts: The Conference is addressed to PhD students and researchers who have no more than 5
years post- Doctoral experience. Please submit an abstract of 250 words as well as a short
biography of 100 words by April 30, 2017 to the following address: convegnocorpo@gmail.com.
The time limit for each presentation is 20 minutes, followed by discussion. All submissions should
be written in English or Italian.
Organising and scientific committee: Giulia Angonese, Francesca Dainese, Andrea Nicolini,
Carlo Vareschi
Address: Università degli Studi di Verona, Via San Francesco 22, 37129 Verona, Italy.