CFP: Cumulative Selfhood: Ageing, Memory and Identity Across the Lifespan in the Early Modern Period (RSA Panel)

The panel welcomes contributions from literature, history, art history, philosophy, and cultural studies, with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue on how Early Modern cultures across Europe and the New World conceptualized the relationship between ageing, time, the body, and identity.

We are especially interested in work that:
• Explores representations of ageing bodies in literature, art, or visual culture
• Considers the cultural, religious, or medical discourses surrounding ageing, maturity, or decline
• Analyzes life writing, diaries, or autobiographical texts through the lens of cumulative identity
• Engages with philosophical or theological conceptions of the ageing self
• Examines how ageing intersects with gender, class, or race in Early Modern contexts
• Reflects on memory, temporal, narrative, or developmental models of selfhood
• Investigates non-European or colonial perspectives on life stages, longevity, and embodiment

Please send abstracts of 200–300 words, along with a brief bio (100 words) to Enrique_Fernandez@umanitoba.ca