HISTORIES at SDU

On Thursday, we hosted this semester's Early Modernity workshop. First, we had a seminar with interesting presentations by HISTORIES' David Hasberg Zirak-Schmidt ("Poetic Responses to Anna of Denmark and James VI’s Wedding”) and Anne Sophie Refschou ("Teaching Early Modern Melancholy: Historicism and Interdisciplinarity”), among others. Afterwards, we had a private tour of the Early modern painting collections at SMK with curator and senior researcher, Michèle Seehafer. To round off this lovely day, a festive dinner - what's not to like?

New HISTORIES publication: Rasmus Vangshardt contributed to this special issue on Biblical drama: https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/jbr/11/2/html. Rasmus' contribution, entitled "Ruins of Empire or Tears of Joy? An Intersection of History and the Bible in Lope de Vega’s Religious Comedias", is one among several good reads in this exciting publication which includes pieces by good old HISTORIES friends, Jan Bloemendal and Dinah Wouters (co-editor).

Special Issue: New Perspectives on Biblical Drama; Guest Editors: Sarah Fengler and Dinah Wouters Volume 11, issue 2 of the journal Journal of the Bible and its Reception was published in 2024.

Sofie Kluge is in Padua, visiting https://www.unipd.it/ - one of the oldest universities in the world, founded in 1222. Today, she gave the lecture "Out of History. The Arcadian Landscape in Spanish Golden Age Literature and Drama" at a seminar hosted by the research group of long-time HISTORIES friend and collaborator Enrico Zucchi (smiling in the second photo). Amazing place and great to be among specialized early modernists with comparativist sensibilities!

Home again after three days of engaging early modern conference with the Nordic Network for Renaissance Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study at Aarhus University.

The HISTORIES group arranged two panels on "The Many Faces of Sophonisba" to discuss this fascinating Carthaginian noblewoman as a perfect figure for understanding the creation of cultural communities and identities, particularly the reappraisal of classical history and genres, in the early modern period.

Speakers included HISTORIES' Sofie Kluge, David Hasberg Zirak-Schmidt and Ladefoged Larn in addition to learned specialist from abroad, Samuel Agbamu, Nina Hugot and Beth Cortese.

The panels build on the theme issue dedicated to Sophonisba for the Nordic Journal of Renaissance Studies in 2023. The theme issue is free to download here: https://www.njrs.dk/njrs_20_2023.htm

Other speakers at the conference included HISTORIES affiliated memner Duggan, who spoke about the pride taken by women book owners in the early modern period.

Thanks to all the speakers and organizers for a great conference!

Learn more about the Nordic Network for Renaissance Studies her: http://nnrs.renaessancestudier.org/index.html

🌞🌞🌞Last Friday, the sun was out, and the weather was unusually warm for Denmark in September as we officially celebrated HISTORIES PI Sofie Kluge's appointment as professor.

Sofie gave a stunning lecture on her many years of research into fiction's truth claim, from her interest in Plato's myths, baroque allegory, historical drama in broader terms in the HISTORIES project and, lately, early modern disinformation.

Once again, congratulations, Sofie! 🌞👩‍🎓

After a good, long summer break HISTORIES is back with an invitation to Sofie Kluge's inaugural lecture! The lecture, which promises to reflect on literature's role in knowledge provision (in Danish), will take place at Odense Adelige Jomfrukloster, 6 September 1t 1:30 and everybody is welcome. Sign up here: event/sdu.dk/kluge.

We feel invigorated after two days of research retreat at the beautiful historical castle Holckenhavn together with the research group KulturNaturArv at Syddansk Universitet – University of Southern Denmark. The retreat offered time for focused writing, stimulating scholarly conversation about funding as well as a private historical sightseeing tour.

Holckenhavn has changed hands (and name!) many times in the course of history, and it was intriguing to notice the different historical layers.

Thanks to the department for sponsoring the retreat and bringing us all together!

Throwback on an intense week: two PhD defenses; workshops with Prof. Andrea Frisch and Prof. Katherine Ibbett, Prof. Alexander Samson and Prof. Jan Bloemendal; familiar faces and new friends. Great to see Rasmus Vangshardt! Congratulations, Anastasia and Niels, and thank you all for four stimulating and joyful days!!

A Danish perspective on a transnational trope...

Yesterday, HISTORIES PhD Student Anastasia Ladefoged Larn gave a paper on an overlooked Danish Cleopatra play and the potential research possibilities of a transnational approach at Aarhus Universitet.

The seminar also featured fascinating papers on trapping chairs that could wet you for fun, canon critique of scholarship on reformed theology and European-Chinese clocks and notions of temporality as well as discussion of the term 'early modern'. And of course, cake, champagne and enjoyable interdisciplinary talk of all things early modern over dinner.

The seminar was organized by the good people of the Center for Early Modern Studies at Aarhus Universitet.

Anastasia Ladefoged Larn rushed back to prepare for her PhD defence on Monday on French 16. century drama.

The viva will take place in Odense, but it will also be possibly to participate online. If you would like to listen in, use the following link: https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/ap/t-59584e83/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fteams.microsoft.com%2Fl%2Fmeetup-join%2F19%253ameeting_MGY1OTUwY2ItMWY1OC00YTg5LWIyYmItNmEzM2UyZjRhNjVh%2540thread.v2%2F0%3Fcontext%3D%257b%2522Tid%2522%253a%25229a97c27d-b83e-4694-b353-54bdbf18ab5b%2522%252c%2522Oid%2522%253a%252260cb9b7c-8738-4469-a2ce-238aed1b71bb%2522%257d&data=05%7C02%7Calarn%40sdu.dk%7C46980e85cf534cf7db7708dc7bebeb7d%7C9a97c27db83e4694b35354bdbf18ab5b%7C0%7C0%7C638521501192235301%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=7YnIppf7hLALS%2FKDpz%2FS1%2Fvpnq669%2F3FJIbIz0qh3DI%3D&reserved=0

Møde-id: 313 560 802 267
Adgangskode: q5jCcz

This week, HISTORIES PI, Sofie Kluge, is in Budapest, participating in a large workshop hosted by the fantastic TextDiveGlobal project (https://www.qmul.ac.uk/textdiveglobal/). The venue is Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), the oldest and largest university in Hungary, and topics range from Jesuit comedy to tragedies about Mustapha (1517-1553). Sofie presented her chapter for the TextDiveGlobal project publication, "Granada 1600. Imitation Games in Miguel de Luna’s Life of King Jacob Almanzor", which tries to make sense out of a pseudo-history of Arab Spain written by the mastermind of the greatest forgeries of all time, the Lead Books of Sacromonte. To illustrate the intricate narrative structure of this ingenious work, purporting to be a new-found eight-hundred-year-old eyewitness account of the end of the Visigoth reign and the early history of Al-Andalus, Sofie had to marshal all her creative abilities 😝

It is happening!

Feel free to join us at the end of May when both of HISTORIES' PhD students will defend their theses.

On May 27 Ladefoged Larn defends her thesis "History Incarnate: Genus and Genre in French Historical Drama" at the Southern University of Denmark.

https://www.sdu.dk/da/om_sdu/institutter_centre/iks/arrangementer

On May 29 Nykrog will defend his thesis "Between Calvary and Parnassus: A Literary History of the Early Modern Martyr Drama" at the University of Copenhagen.

https://artsandculturalstudies.ku.dk/Calendar/2024/between-calvary-and-parnassus/

See you there!