Castration anyone?

(posted on behalf of Larissa Tracy)

Castration Volume — Call for Papers

This is a call for submissions for a collected volume on castration in classical, medieval, or early modern tradition.

This volume, inspired by a series of discussions at the International Medieval Congress at Leeds, 2010, will investigate the social, cultural and moral implications of literal/actual castration and/or genital mutilation from historical, literary, artistic or legal sources, interrogating the boundaries of punishment and social taboos in the medieval/early-modern world.

Punishment, dismemberment and violence have come to the fore in the last ten years as very active fields of study and discovery, and yet castration and genital mutilation are often regarded as taboo. This volume seeks to address a gap in scholarship, focusing on actual accounts of castration, rather than theoretical interpretations or analysis.

We welcome submissions in any area of classical/medieval/ or early modern studies as long as they deal with representations or accounts of actual castration (or the threat of it).

Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to Dr. Larissa Tracy, kattracy@comcast.net by Oct. 1, 2010.