Le corps

The Body : limits, constructions, intensity

Call for papers

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

• Body and illness
• Body and trauma
• Body and suffering
• The fragmented body

The transformations of the body

• 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

• The self vs the body
• The body as jail
• The body of the Other
• Cyborg

Body and sexuality

• Sexual satisfaction
• Sexual dependency
• Transexuality, intersexuality
• Sexual orientation
• Sado-masochism

Body and culture

• Religion
• Rites of passage
• Death rituals
• Reincarnation
• Anthroporfism and zoomorfism

The body as political act

• Body’s rights
• Body trade

Body and arts

• Body art
• Performance art
• Actual body and virtual body

The PhD international Conference will take place in Verona on 20-22 september 2017

Abstracts: 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.