Asceticism: The Body, Landscape, and Society
Session will present: In-PersonAsceticism and the eremitic life have recently been subjects of considerable scholarly interest. In 2023, a conference at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge explored new approaches to asceticism in Late Antiquity. And, in 2022, Inbar Gravier’s Asceticism of the Mind: Forms of Attention and Self-Transformation in Late Antique Monasticism similarly brought renewed attention to the subject, forging new ground by connecting Late Antique practices of askesis to modern understandings of meditation.
This session explores the ways in which denial and purification catalyzed and promoted creativity in the arts, and how new visual forms emerged within the ascetic habitus. It seeks to understand how practices of asceticism influenced and transformed art and architecture, including landscape and the lived environment and how practices of asceticism moved through and created mutual exchance between different cultures and religions. In addition, the session examines somaesthetics, ascetic practices, and mind-body-soul alignment. Rather than seeing asceticism as a mode of deprivation, this panel seeks to illustrate how it generates new realities related to the individual, the community, and the environment.
Field(s) of Study:
Time Period: Early Modern (1450-1800)
Time Period: Eleventh to Fourteenth Century
Geographic Area: Western and Central Europe
Geographic Area: Middle East
Topics: Landscape
Chair:
Andrew Chen, Texas State University
Abstract Submissions Closed
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