CfP poster:
"The antiquarian networks of the eighteenth century and Romantic era contributed to a fascinating constellation
of multicultural, multilingual, exchange across the globe. The study of antiquarianism was a vastly popular
pastime and scholarly pursuit in Europe, especially as a way of mapping ancient world cultures, religions, and
politics onto contemporary society. The circulation of knowledge within local, national, and global networks
paradoxically consolidated independent national exceptionalisms, as well as contributing to a budding
multicultural globalism. Texts such as James Macpherson’s “Fragments of Ancient Poetry” (1763) prompted a
revival of vernacular traditions across the British Isles like ballad imitations and Norse translations, while the
establishment of the Society of Antiquaries in Britain encouraged the circulation and study of material culture.
With the various inventive reimaginations of world mythologies, and as an oppressive vehicle for European
imperial agendas, the study of vernacular antiquities during the long eighteenth century formed the critical
foundations of contemporary worldviews via the lens of the past. Pre-dating Herder’s thesis about “Volksgeist,
”
these antiquarian practices already constituted a rewriting of histories, memories, and cultures, and brought to
the fore questions of heritage, identity, empire, trade, as well as the value ascribed to language. Through this
global trade of antiquity in all its forms—material, textual, visual—both national and local European perspectives
were brought into dialogue with alternate histories and the legacy of bygone eras.
Networks of Antiquity is a two-day interdisciplinary conference held in person and in English at the University
of Copenhagen. It aims to bring together scholars of Eighteenth Century Studies, Romanticism, and Reception
Studies to examine how antiquarian networks across Europe and beyond created porous cultural borders
during the long eighteenth century."
Poster: "We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers that consider how European communities, networks, and individuals of the long eighteenth century engaged with antiquarian studies and cultural contexts regarding and those
external to their own geographical borders.
PAPERS MAY EXPLORE TOPICS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
Circuits of communication, letters, and objects
Material culture and its popular or localised consumption
Antiquarianism and visual culture
Nordic antiquity, Northern antiquarianism, the Gothic
The relationship and tensions between (neo-)Classical antiquity and vernacular traditions
National vs local networks, the circulation of knowledge production
Recollecting, reconstituting, and reinventing the past
Adaptations and appropriations
The Antiquarian as a figure/character
Antiquarian Spaces: The Society of Antiquaries, libraries, museums, private vs. public exchange
Exchange and Encounters: Transatlantic, Anglo-Nordic, Asiatic, etc.
Geographies of antiquity, landscapes, scientific antiquarian travel
Empire, trade, race, imperial and postcolonial perspectives
Antiquarianism as a literary form and genre
Stadial theory, Translation theory, Reception Studies, Memory Studies
TO APPLY
Please submit a 250-word abstract and 150-word biography to Sharon Choe (sharon.choe@hum.ku.dk) with the subject line : Networks of Antiquity Conference Submission.
We are keen to encourage the participation of PhDs, early career researchers, and scholars on precarious employment contracts, and so will be offering bursaries to contribute towards travel to and accommodation in Copenhagen. Priority will be given to those without access to institutional financial support or external grant funding. To be considered for a bursary, please also provide a short 100-word application alongside your proposal, including your current institutional position and any research projects.
Application deadline : 31 January 2026
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 10 February 2026"
CfP: Networks of Antiquity, University of Copenhagen, 7-8th May 2026
Abstracts due 31st January!
More info on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6237
