Medievalism between East and West, 26-27 September, Registration

The imagination of the Middle Ages runs wild on the internet. From popular history to pseudohistorical conspiracy theories, from gaming culture to memes, the medieval inspires the present. The study of medievalism is now a well-established field of study, but scholars rarely venture beyond American and Western European cultural sphere.

The conference Medievalism between East and West (26-27 September 2019) explores medievalism, pseudo-history and history politics in Northern Europe and Russia. The conference has an emphasis on Finland and Russia but has also papers treating its themes in other geographical areas.

The registration for the conference Medievalism between East and West is now open also for participants without a paper.

The following keynote lectures are open to all and do not require registration. The conference venue is at the University of Turku, Sirkkala Campus, Kaivokatu 12, 20520 Turku.

Thursday 26 September
10.00-11.00, lecture hall Janus
Keynote speaker: Andrew B. Elliott
Historical Authority in Political Medievalism: Who Owns the Medieval Past?

14.00-15.00, lecture hall Janus
Keynote speaker: Sirpa Aalto
A Dark World? – The Role of Saga Literature in Finnish Pseudo-Histories in the Internet

Friday 27 September
9.00-10.00, lecture hall Janus
Keynote speaker: Sergey Zhuravlev
Middle Ages in Recent Russian Historical Policy

13.00-14.00, lecture hall Janus
Keynote speaker: Kati Parppei
Medieval Battles in Contemporary Contexts: Case Kulikovo (1380)

The whole conference programme is available here

Those attending the entire conference are asked to register at Konsta: https://konsta.utu.fi/Default.aspx?tabid=88&tap=7925

The registration fee is 20 €, and it covers coffee services and lunches on Thursday and Friday.

The deadline for registration is 16 September.

The conference is organised by the research project The Ancient Finnish Kings: a computational study of pseudohistory, medievalism and history politics in contemporary Finland and Russia (funded by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation), in co-operation with Turku Institute for Advanced Studies.